US pulp spot market prices settle at low levels as market looks to China for bounce; Arauco after back-to-back softwood hike

摘要

Eight months of eroding US spot market pulp prices ended this week as expectations that global inventories continued to move down from historical highs and pricing traction in China helped domestic spot levels hold flat across four key grades.US spot prices for benchmark northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) held at $470-500/tonne on a net delivered basis in the US East and Midwest, after pulp producers awash with extra tonnage during the market's downturn shifted tonnes to China, where demand remained strong since record shipments in December.