paperloop.com
HELSINKI, Aug. 7, 2001 (Press release) - There was a further downward slide in the European contract business prices for northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp. Most of the quotes for NBSK were in the $450-475/tonne range and the benchmark index dropped 2 percent to $459.82/tonne. 
Contract prices for bleached hardwood kraft (BHK) pulp including discounts have approached spot prices, which are beginning to inch upwards, especially in the Asian market. However, contract prices in Europe continued to move down, showing a 2 percent drop to Euro 449.08/tonne. The 0.7 percent strengthening of the euro against the dollar meant that the greater euro decline converted to $396.85/tonne, that is, the dollar index registered a 1.3 percent drop. 
Downtime announcements continue to flow in. In market pulp, including chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP), almost 1 million tonnes of supply reduction has been published. Also, European and North American papermakers have taken substantial curtailments in printing/writing papers as well as packaging grades.