August China pulp imports jump to 1,183,045 tonnes, rising by 23.7% month-over-month and 39.5% year-over-year; first eight months of 2011 increase by 26.8% from year-ago

Diane Keaton

LOS ANGELES , September 30, 2011 (Forestweb) – August pulp imports to China totalled 1,183,045 tonnes, increasing by 23.7% over July and by 39.5% over August 2010, according to China Customs Bureau statistics.

This reversed two straight months in which imports were below 1 million tonnes, which had followed seven months in a row above 1 million tonnes.

The January-through-August total reached 9,288,953 tonnes, up 26.8% over the first eight months of 2010.

There were month-over-month increases for bleached hardwood kraft pulp (BHKP), softwood unbleached kraft pulp (UKP), bleached chemi-mechanical pulp (BCTMP), and dissolving pulp, but there was a decrease for bleached softwood kraft pulp (BSKP). All of the categories were up on a year-over-year basis.

In August, China imported 432,632 tonnes of BSKP, down 7.9% month-over-month but up 43.7% year-over-year. The cumulative total of 3,803,374 tonnes rose by 52.5% compared to the year-ago figure.

In August, the imports of BHKP totalled 460,148 tonnes, climbing by 62.4% from the low July figure of just 283,305 tonnes (June was also below 400,000 tonnes, at 309,761 tonnes). Also the August imports rose by 34.0% from those of a year ago. From January through August, the total was 3,312,926 tonnes, up 9.1%.

The August imports of Canadian BSKP, or northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp, were 145,535 tonnes, down 23.6% month-over-month but up 19.6% year-over-year. The cumulative total of 1,538,174 tonnes was 79.4% higher than the year-ago period.

Imports of Brazilian bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp (BEKP) of 148,257 tonnes increased by 81.4% over the weak July number but were 17.7% down from August 2010. From January through August, they reached 1,178,130 tonnes, falling by 12.1% from the year-ago period.

In August, China imported 43,872 tonnes of unbleached softwood kraft (UKP), up 58.5% month-over-month and by 67.3% year-over-year. So far this year the total is 406,464 tonnes, up 45.5%.

August imports mechanical and semi-chemical pulp, also known as high-yield pulp or BCTMP, reached 128,996 tonnes, for increases of 6.3% over July and of 28.0% over August 2010. The year-to-date total of 975,070 tonnes was up by 14.0%.

China imported 101,962 tonnes of dissolving pulp in August, jumping by 58.5% from July and by 43.8% from August 2010. From January through August, the dissolving pulp imports reached 690,503 tonnes, up 8.5%.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.