China to eliminate 625,700 tonnes/year of obsolete pulp capacity under minister's order; distributors cut hardwood pulp prices by about 50 yuan/tonne, say sources

Debra Garcia

BEIJING , August 9, 2013 (China Paper Online) – Reported by Business Community:

Currently, domestic hardwood pulp market showed an obvious sluggishness with price inching down. In order to stimulate delivery, some distributors down adjusted their price by around 50 yuan/tonne. Price in international market kept firm. In domestic market, some traders were prudent in making offers and low end of the stocks were around 200-500 tonne. The ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued list of phasing out old capacity, among which, pulp sector shall eliminate some 625,700 mts. It is expected to boost the market of spot goods in China.

June 2013, China imported 497,000 mts of hardwood pulp, slipping 14.8% from a month ago. The drop in import may shrink pulp spot supply. The drop of stocks in ports may possibly drive up price of spot goods market.

The oversupply in domestic paper market was still severe. Some paper mills even had down time to reduce production output. Paper mills did not have adequate operation rate and the ability to purchase pulp was weak.

* 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.