July 2020

Pulp Capacity & Price Changes

• Global chemical market pulp producer inventories increased by three day-of-supply in Jun ‘20, to 46 days overall; BSK increased four days to 42 days of stock, while BHK maintain at 49 (PPPC, Jul 2020)
• In China, several dominant Chinese paper and board (P&B) producers and traders are set to take concerted action to prevent pulp prices from falling further. A critical step is to snap up the entire Q3 volume of hardwood at the fixed prices proposed by major Brazilian producers. They hope to keep the positive momentum alive until Q4 when the Chinese P&B market enters its peak period. (RISI, Jul 2020)

Paper Capacity & Price Changes

• Double A has modified a 250,000 tonne/yr fine paper machine (in Thailand) to produce recycled lightweight corrugating medium. Commercial production of packaging material is said to have started at the end of May ‘20. (RISI, Jul 2020)
• Market players see uncoated woodfree (UWF) paper demand recovered in July ’20, compared to coronavirus-level (Q2 ‘20); market demand is still weaker if compared to “normal” (2019) level. Market players also agreed that the UWF market has been the most resilient one among all graphic paper grades. (RISI, Jul 2020)