- Further pulp price increases on the cards for April: Suzano has announced an 8% (USD 60/t) BEK price increase to China, 9% in the US and 10% in Europe, all effective 1 April. Russia’s largest pulp producer (1.8mtpa of market pulp capacity), the Ilim Group has also announced a 11% increase in China, on the back of solid demand and tight supply. On the softwood side, Södra Cell is set to increase NBSK to USD 1,220/t in Europe citing that “the global NBSK market is very tight, and in Europe robust demand is outpacing supply”.
- YTD, UWF is the only graphic paper grade in the green: Encouragingly for European producers, Suzano have announced a 16% price increase for UWF in Brazil, effective 20 April. We note that non-integrated CWF producers are under further pressure this week with the CWF/HW spread further in the red at EUR 105/t.
- Pro-Gest confirms a EUR 70/t containerboard price increase: Italy’s leading containerboard producer will implement the price increase from 1 April, but most probably over two months. This is on the back of tight supply, and rising costs. Their machines are currently fully booked, with demand at a record high. In terms of containerboard prices, testliner led the way again this past week (+3.2%), followed by kraftliner (+0.8%).
- OCC continues to rise, up 8% w/w and shortage of PfR now impacting graphic paper production: UPM, Norske Skog, and Leipa have been impacted, forcing them to temporarily stop paper machines. With graphic paper closures in Europe, this has reduced fresh fibre-based paper.
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