Canfor Pulp announces Feb. 1 US$10/tonne NBSK price increase for Asia Pacific, bringing list price in China to US$770/tonne (reinforcing grade)

Diane Keaton

LOS ANGELES , January 27, 2014 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – Northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) producer Canfor Pulp LP has announced a Feb. 1 US$10/tonne price increase for the Asia Pacific until further notice.

The company said this would result in a list price of $770/tonne for China.

Canfor Pulp sells reinforcing-grade NBSK in China, typically pricing it $10/tonne higher than the price of commodity-grade NBSK.

It began informing customers of its plans late last week.

For Dec. 1, Canfor Pulp had also announced a $770/tonne price for China, saying it was up $20/tonne, but its price instead went up $10/tonne, to $760/tonne.

Also for December, some commodity NBSK producers announced they were raising their China price by $10/tonne, to $750/tonne, which price has remained in January.

And Chile’s Celulosa Arauco y Constitución SA (Arauco) kept its December/January price of bleached radiata kraft pulp (BRKP) unchanged, at $730/tonne (net).

On Jan. 23, West Fraser Timber Co. announced a Feb. 1 NBSK price hike for Asia of $10/tonne. It did not specify the new pricing.

For February, Russian and Chilean bleached softwood kraft pulp (BSKP) producers were the first to announce China price hike plans. On Jan. 16, Arauco said it was going up $10/tonne, to $740/tonne (net) for BRKP. Then Russia’s Ilim Group said it was raising its February price in China to $730/tonne CFR (list), said to be up $10/tonne.

(Arauco said its unbleached kraft pulp (UKP) price in China will be unchanged in February at $720/tonne (net); Arauco had raised its Jan. 1 UKP price by $10/tonne.)

An Arauco official told Industry Intelligence the company’s Feb. 1 $740/tonne BRKP price in China was accepted “without problems.”

Today International Paper Co. (IP) announced its is raising its Feb. 1 southern bleached softwood kraft (SBSK) price $10/tonne in Asia and $20/tonne in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and that it is increasing its fluff pulp price globally, by $40/tonne. It did not specify the new prices in its announcement.

There have also been some February NBSK price hike announcements for Europe, where various producers have still been working to completely implement their announced Nov. 1 price of $920/tonne, up $20/tonne. Mercer International Inc. and West Fraser separately said their Feb. 1 list price will be $930/tonne. For December, Canfor Pulp had announced a $940/tonne price, which was not realized, and it has not rescinded this announcement.

Canfor Pulp, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has three mills in Prince George, British Columbia. Two mills produce NBSK exclusively, including 590,000 tonnes/year at the Northwood mill and 320,000 tonnes/year at the Intercontinental mill. The third mill, the Prince George mill, produces 120,000 tonnes/year of UKP, 15,000 tonnes/year of semi-bleached pulp and 135,000 tonnes/year of kraft paper.

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