West Fraser to raise its China NBSK pulp price by US$20/tonne, to US$740/tonne, for July orders; two other NBSK producers also have announced July price hikes for China

Diane Keaton

LOS ANGELES , June 24, 2014 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – West Fraser Timber Co. in Vancouver, British Columbia, has notified customers in China that it is increasing its price of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) by US$20/tonne, to $740/tonne, for July orders.

The notification was done June 23, according to a knowledgeable source.

Two other Vancouver-based NBSK producers have also separately slated July price hike plans for China.

On June 13 Mercer International Inc. announced a $30/tonne July 1 price for China, to $750/tonne for commodity-grade NBSK.

On June 20 (China time), Canfor Pulp LP announced a $750/tonne price for its reinforcement-grade NBSK. Canfor Pulp didn’t say the amount of the increase, although some sources said the market for reinforcement-grade NBSK in China is currently at $730/tonne, so the July price would amount to a $20/tonne increase.

On June 17, Celulosa Arauco y Constitución SA (Arauco) of Chile announced that it would increase its July price of bleached radiata kraft pulp (BRKP) in China by $10/tonne, to $710/tonne. It is not changing its price of unbleached kraft pulp (UKP), currently at $690/tonne.

West Fraser has an NBSK capacity of 590,000 tonnes/year. It is a major producer of bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP), with a capacity of 640,000 tonnes/year. 

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