Demand for hardwood pulps grows in the first quarter of 2017

During the first three months of the year, the demand for hardwood pulps reached 8.2 million tonnes, up 7.5 percentage points year-on-year. The type of hardwood pulp produced using eucalyptus saw demand increase by 7.6% from January to March of this year.

During the first three months of the year, the demand for hardwood pulps reached 8.2 million tonnes, up 7.5 percentage points year-on-year. The type of hardwood pulp produced using eucalyptus saw demand increase by 7.6% from January to March of this year. These figures come from the Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC World Chemical Market Pulp Global 100 Report – March 2017). This report also assesses the demand for paper pulp by location. In this chapter, during the period ana-lysed, Europe’s consumption fell by 4.4%, whilst China’s grew by 24.4%.

With regard to eucalyptus pulp, the survey notes that demand decreased by 5% in Europe and but rose by 25.3% in China. In March 2017, hardwood pulp inventories fell to 37 days-of-supply (seasonally adjusted), compared with 45 days in March 2016.

The BEKP price change prospects are good. According to the report by the Pulp and Paper Products Council, it is expected that the BEKP selling price will rise in the second quarter of the year in progress

In terms of the change in price of bleached hardwood eucalyptus pulp (BEKP), the first quarter of 2017 saw a price rise of 3.9% in US Dollars, and 6% in Euros, compared with the previous quarter. The average price recorded in the first quarter of the year stood at 680.5 USD/t (vs. 655.1 USD/t in the previous quarter and 762.4 USD/t in the same period of 2016), whilst in Euros this figure stood at 640.5 EUR/t (vs. 604.5 EUR/t in the previous quarter and 693.1 EUR/t in the same period of 2016).