Market BCTMP was a 'grade of future' — Does it need help to hit its potential?

摘要

High-yield market mechanical pulps have not achieved the penetration that some of their early advocates might have predicted. It now appears that significant additional expansion in capacity to make market bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP),the largest component of the high-yield sector, may not occur if it depends purely on normal commercial financing. While there are plans for new BCTMP capacity on the drawing board (including a project underway at an existing Russian mill owned by International Paper), the rate of growth is considerably less than envisioned by its boosters. Much of the existing capacity is at best only marginally profitable; unless the price structure improves, future growth will likely depend on financial assistance from "non-private" sources, such as governments or funding agencies. (BCTMP is also known as a "high-yield" mechanical pulp grade, a segment of the market pulp industry that includes TMP and ground wood market pulp.)