<b>Pulp Substitutes Free Falling</B>

Many grades of recovered fiber are dipping. The pulp substitute market, however, seems to be in one of the most acute situations. Prices have been crashing over the past month. Several brokers report that not only are prices slipping quite sharply, but orders are becoming very difficult to obtain.

Sources on the East Coast, West Coast and South all report having a difficult time landing any orders. Prices for hard white shavings have been careening downward, with some people noting prices falling to the $300 a ton level or even less. More problematic than just the lower prices have been the indications that even at these levels there are few buyers for the material

There appears to be a lack of interest in orders from domestic, offshore, Mexican or Canadian mills for most of the pulp substitutes, creating serious difficulties for companies specializing in the grade.

Along with problems with hard whites, SBS also continues to be a very hard grade to find homes for.

With runtimes at many mills expected to be slow until sometime during the early part of next year, many handlers of these high-end grade expect to see further problems flaring up over the next two months.