- Slow start for pulp as China returns from CNY: With the futures prices and trading volumes remaining high after the CNY, the Illim Group has announced a USD 90/t increase for softwood (to USD 880/t) and USD 120/t for hardwood (to USD 700/t). Further hikes on the cards in the US as West Fraser (WF: 1.2mtpa of market pulp capacity in Canada) sets USD 100/t increase for NBSK from 1 March. Additionally, WF has set their softwood BCTMP price at USD 650/t (net CIF) to China. Peers Domtar and Resolute Forests Products have set a NBSK list price of USD 1,420/t.
- Further UWF price increases announced in the US: The Navigator Company has followed US competitors with a 6-8% increase effective 22 March. They believe this is justified in light of rising pulp and logistic costs. Suzano also announced an 8% UWF price increase for North America and an 8.4% increase for CWF in Brazil.
- US SBS market is tight (good for Sappi’s Packaging & Specialties segment): This has been driven by the cold weather causing unplanned downtime (>200kt). Despite this, proposed boxboard increase of USD 50/t is still on hold.
- Containerboard producers continue to realise further gains: Kraftliner and testliner were up w/w (1.5% and 2.2%, respectively). In the US, box prices are expected to increase by as much as 10-15% in 10m due to containerboard price increases. US domestic orders currently require 4-6 weeks to be delivered vs. unbleached kraft linerboard of up to 8 weeks. The US remains key for global containerboard markets, having produced 38.1mt in 2020 (+1.7mt of new capacity is currently starting-up, while another 1.6mt is planned from March 2021 to mid-23.
Download Report
