SunSirs: The Price of Wood Pulp fluctuates in China

According to the monitoring of the commodity market analysis system of SunSirs, the prices of softwood pulp and hardwood pulp showed a opposite trend last week. On August 11th, the average market price of softwood pulp in the Shandong region was 5,420 RMB/ton, a decrease of 1.09% compared to the average price of 5,480 RMB/ton on August 6th. On August 11th, the average market price of hardwood pulp in the Shandong region was 4,620 RMB/ton, an increase of 2.21% compared to the average price of 4,520 RMB/ton on August 11th.

By observing market changes, it can be seen that the price of softwood pulp decreased and the price of hardwood pulp increased last week. In terms of the supply market, the Canadian strike has subsided and production has resumed. Coupled with the obvious expectation of the spot market arriving in Hong Kong in August, the pressure on spot supply remains difficult to resolve. This has led to a weak transaction at a high spot price for softwood pulp, resulting in a downward pressure on the price of softwood pulp. On the contrary, some companies have reported that the circulation of goods in the hardwood pulp market is tight, and coupled with external market reports, it further increases the number of companies raising their prices for hardwood pulp.

In terms of demand, although with the expected peak season, the pace of price hikes at market terminals has increased, there are signs of a rebound in downstream market procurement. However, downstream acceptance of high priced raw materials is still low, and the transaction volume in the wood pulp market is relatively high. The prices of softwood pulp are mostly adjusted according to the pulp futures market. However, the recent rise in downstream cultural paper has driven up the price of hardwood pulp.

In terms of futures, on August 11th, the opening price of the SP2309 contract for pulp futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was 5,330 RMB/ton, with the latest price of 5,308 RMB/ton, a daily decrease of 0.67%, with 174,700 transactions and 159,460 positions.

The prices of downstream white cardboard and gray background white cardboard have remained stable. On August 11th, the average market price of 230g-400g white cardboard was 4,640 RMB/ton, while on August 11th, the average market price of 250g gray background white cardboard was 4,165.67 RMB/ton. Last week, the prices of white cardboard and gray background white board continued to hover at low levels, and the production of new white cardboard production capacity gradually increased. Demand continued to fall during the off-season, and the payment cycle entered in the later part of the year. The focus of market transactions is under downward pressure. The enthusiasm for the start of the whiteboard paper factory is not high, and downstream procurement is cautious, with limited incremental new orders. At present, the supply pressure in the white cardboard and whiteboard markets is high, and paper mills are under pressure to ship, making it difficult to alleviate the supply-demand contradiction.

SunSirs Wood Pulp Analysts believe that in the near future, with the impact of the main force of pulp futures moving to another month, the futures price has risen and fallen in the short term, driving the spot price of softwood pulp to shake and decline. However, the supply of hardwood pulp is tight, and the prices are temporarily high. It is expected that the spot prices of wood pulp will continue to fluctuate in the short term.

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