According to the monitoring of the commodity market analysis system of SunSirs, the price of softwood pulp has slightly decreased this week, while the price of hardwood pulp has shifted upwards. On August 15th, the average market price of softwood pulp in Shandong Province was 5,876.67 RMB/ton, a decrease of 0.11% compared to the average price on August 10th. On August 15th, the average market price of hardwood pulp in Shandong Province was 4,200 RMB/ton, an increase of 2.44% compared to the average price on August 10th.

On the supply side: The marginal relief of supply pressure in the current pulp market, coupled with the rise in international pulp mill prices, production cuts, and changes in production, provides some support for the spot market. The inventory level has shifted from destocking to accumulation in this cycle, which has a restraining effect on the rise in wood pulp prices. As of August 14, 2025, the sample inventory of mainstream pulp ports in China was 2.099 million tons, an increase of 2.5% compared to the previous period's accumulation of 51,000 tons.

On the demand side: The current downstream raw paper market has limited improvement in demand sentiment, with paper mills mostly adopting on-demand or just in need purchases, providing moderate support for the market sentiment, while most industry players still maintain a wait-and-see attitude. In mid August, the market was still affected by the traditional off-season for pulp and paper production. Downstream paper mills had limited expectations for the demand during the traditional peak season, and lacked confidence in future orders. Raw materials were mainly used to digest inventory, and the follow-up of actual orders in the market was relatively limited, which to some extent dragged down the rise in wood pulp prices.

In terms of futures, pulp futures prices have shown a slight upward trend this week. As of August 15th, the opening price of the main contract sp2511 on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 5,322 RMB/ton, the closing price was 5,306 RMB/ton, and the highest price was 5,326 RMB/ton, with a daily increase of 0.08%. The trading volume was 233,600 lots, and the position was 157,238 lots.

The wood pulp analyst from SunSirs believes that the current mentality of rising prices in foreign markets is relatively clear, but factors such as relatively abundant supply in the domestic market, cyclical bearish trends in the industry, and limited demand improvement are all constraining the trend of pulp prices. It is expected that the short-term wood pulp prices will remain stable.

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