According to the monitoring of the Commodity Market Analysis System of SunSirs, the prices of softwood pulp and hardwood pulp showed an overall trend of weakening in January 2026. On January 29th, the average market price of softwood pulp in Shandong Province was 5,466.67 RMB/ton, a decrease of 2.96% compared to the average price on January 1st. On January 29th, the average market price of hardwood pulp in Shandong Province was 4,616.67 RMB/ton, a decrease of 1.42% compared to the average price on January 1st.

Supply side: Domestic port inventory pressure continued in January, with port inventory at a mid to high level for the year. In the first half of the month, there was a significant difference in the trend between coniferous pulp and broad-leaved pulp, with broad-leaved pulp maintaining a firm quotation due to tight supply and external cost support; The trend of needle pulp will follow more closely with the sentiment of the futures market, and its performance will be relatively stable. In the second half of the month, the price of coniferous pulp mainly followed the fluctuations of the futures market, and the tight supply of tradable goods in the broad-leaved pulp market eased slightly, resulting in a slight loosening of market prices.

In terms of domestic port inventory, the inventory level continues to show a trend of accumulating inventory in this cycle, and the port sample inventory has shown a trend of accumulating inventory for four consecutive weeks. As of January 29, 2026, the sample inventory of mainstream pulp ports in China was 2.169 million tons, an increase of 4.9% compared to the previous period's cumulative inventory of 101,000 tons. This cycle, the inventory of pulp at the mainstream domestic port Qingdao Port has maintained a trend of accumulation, and the daily average shipment speed in the port has not changed much compared to the previous cycle; The inventory of Changshu Port shows a trend of accumulating inventory, and the shipment volume in the port has decreased compared to the previous cycle, maintaining around 80,000 tons; The inventory levels of other ports have shown varying degrees of accumulation trend.

In terms of imports: According to data from the General Administration of Customs, the domestic import volume of pulp in December 2025 was 3.113 million tons, and the annual import volume of pulp was 36.038 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. Among them, the import volume of coniferous pulp in December was 895,900 tons, an increase of 11.51% year-on-year; The import volume of broad-leaved pulp in December was 1.353 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 20.4%.

In terms of demand: The core contradiction in the market remained unchanged in the first half of January, with weak demand in the downstream raw paper market. Paper companies have low enthusiasm for stocking up on high priced raw materials, limited procurement increment, and a lack of breakthrough drivers in fundamentals. This has led to cautious downstream procurement and weak upward movement of needle pulp; However, due to the high price of broad-leaved pulp, its downstream market acceptance is limited, and transaction resistance still exists. However, in the second half of the month, there has not been a significant increase in overall orders in the market, and the pre holiday stocking sentiment is light. The market's wait-and-see sentiment remains strong, and coupled with the strong price of wood pulp in the early stage, cost pressures have increased, making it difficult for downstream raw paper industry processing profits to improve. Therefore, the intention to replenish high priced raw materials is generally low.

In terms of futures, the prices of the main pulp futures contracts in January have been fluctuating, showing a slight weakness overall. As of January 29th, the opening price of the main contract sp2503 for pulp futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 5,374 RMB/ton, the closing price was 5,388 RMB/ton, and the highest price was 5,412 RMB/ton, with 215,400 transactions and 263,863 positions held.

SunSirs wood pulp analyst believes that as the current Spring Festival holiday approaches, multiple downstream paper companies have successively released plans for shutdown and maintenance. Therefore, demand support is expected to further weaken, which is not conducive to the stabilization of pulp prices in the short term. It is expected that the short-term spot price of wood pulp will continue to show weak stability.

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