<b>Pulp Substitutes Continue Slide</B>

The pulp substitute market has been dipping fairly dramatically over the past month. Hard whites have fallen by $40 a ton or more over the past several months as the oversupply of pulp is resulting in corrective measures being taken throughout Norscan countries.

While movement is still possible, suppliers and consumers are locked in a battle to obtain fiber at a fair price.

Reflecting the swing in market conditions, the inventory of producers’ market pulp is up significantly from the figures the same time last year. Further, the production of wood pulp stands at 5.068 million tons, bringing the annual rate, year to date, to 63.556 million tons, a 1.4 percent increase from the same time last year.

Meanwhile, wood pulp production for paper products stands at 720,000 tons for September, a 7.5 percent improvement from the same time last year.

The sense now is that Norscan inventory levels will increase for last month. According to a report by Dow Jones, a higher than expected inventory figure could indicate that demand has already peaked for market pulp.