Packaging / Advertising & Office

Canfor Pulp's latest performance report shows that the company's operating loss in the second quarter of this year was 8.1 million Canadian dollars, a 68.85% decrease from the 26 million Canadian operating loss in the first quarter. This is largely due to the increase in NBSK prices. In addition, logistics improvements also increased shipments.

In the second quarter, Canfor Pulp pulp shipments increased by 16% sequentially to 205,000 tons, mainly due to a 6% increase in production to 187,000 tons over the same period, and a decline in inventories.

In the first quarter of 2022, the company's pulp production was cut by about 130,000 tons due to shutdowns. Among them, Northwood pulp mill has reduced the production of nearly 70,000 tons of commercial pulp due to the renovation of the lower furnace of No. 1 recovery boiler (RB1). At the same time, the Taylor pulp mill was shut down due to insufficient capacity in BC, reducing the production of nearly 30,000 tons of chemical pulp. In addition, various small-scale shutdowns reduced production by 30,000 tons.

In the second quarter, although outages still existed, NBSK production cuts were reduced. The Taylor pulp mill continued to shut down for logistical reasons, cutting the chemi-mechanical pulp market supply by nearly 60,000 tons. In mid-April, the Northwood pulp mill was partially shut down due to the upgrade of RB1, reducing the production of NBSK by about 10,000 tons; and from June to mid-July, the Northwood pulp mill was shut down for regular maintenance, reducing the output by nearly 46,000 tons (3rd quarter in the second quarter). 10,000 tons, 16,000 tons in July). The reduction in pulp production in the second quarter totaled about 100,000 tons.

Canfor Pulp said that following the substantial improvement in the fundamentals of the global softwood pulp market earlier this year, continued global logistics constraints and unplanned downtime led to a strong global pulp market in the second quarter. The upward trend of NBSK CIF China prices in the first quarter continued until April and remained stable at a record high. Therefore, in the second quarter, the average price of NBSK CIF in China reached US$1,008/ton, up by US$109/ton from the previous quarter, or 12%. In the second quarter, the average price of NBSK in North America rose by US$216/ton to US$1,743/ton, an increase of 14%. Global softwood pulp producers' inventories stood at 38 days at the end of May 2022, an increase of 2 days from March 2022.

In the second quarter of this year, Canfor Pulp's paper business revenue increased by 200,000 Canadian dollars sequentially to 6.2 million Canadian dollars.

Canfor Pulp expects the global softwood pulp market to remain strong in the third quarter, mainly due to limited pulp production and supply and stable demand.