Raw pulp paper is a type of paper product made from natural plant fibers through special processing techniques. Due to its environmentally friendly and healthy characteristics, raw pulp paper has gradually occupied a certain market share. Especially in the paper product markets of China and Europe, the demand for raw pulp paper is constantly increasing. Therefore, engaging in the raw pulp and paper business has broad market prospects.
Firstly, the surge in demand in the Chinese pulp market has become an important driving force for the global pulp market. In the past year, the recovery of domestic consumption in China has prompted buyers to increase inventory, while the low price of pulp has attracted more Chinese imports. In addition, pulp producers reduced their production by over 1.4 million tons throughout the year to adapt to market conditions, effectively reducing inventory and improving the supply and demand relationship in the market.
In the European market, despite the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the tightening cycle, demand is low. Despite this, China remains the world’s largest consumer market for trade pulp. From January to September 2023, China’s pulp shipping volume increased by 24% year-on-year, while North America and Western Europe’s pulp shipping volume decreased by 8% and 18% respectively, indicating that global demand is mainly concentrated in Central Europe and the United States.
In addition, changes in the global pulp market are also affected by capacity closures. Due to long-term and short-term pressures on wood fiber supply, asset upgrades, high interest rates, and cyclical market downturns, the supply side of the coniferous wood pulp market has been affected throughout the year. These closures involve six commodity pulp production lines in North America and a factory in Finland, resulting in a total reduction of 1.6 million tons of commodity pulp production capacity. Despite the launch of new factories, the added production capacity has been effectively offset.
In summary, the global market outlook for virgin pulp is driven by demand from the Chinese and European markets, as well as the impact of capacity closures and global pulp supply and demand adjustments. Despite facing some challenges such as sluggish demand in the European market and global capacity closures, the overall market outlook remains positive, especially with strong demand in the Chinese market, where the supply-demand relationship in the pulp market is gradually improving.
Post time: Aug-27-2024