Pressure on pulp prices is mounting with Sdra announcing a further $30-per-tonne cut in its Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) grade.


The price cut brings the cost per tonne for NBSK down to $620.


"We have had a mixed reaction from buyers, with some saying its not enough," a Sdra spokesman said.


In response, Canfor of Canada has also reduced its NBSK price to $620, and Weyerhaeuser has taken the most drastic action with a $50 plunge to $600 per tonne.


"Hopefully with these reductions we should now start to see some stability," said the Sdra spokesman.


He said he expected shipments to increase with Chinese producers now coming back on stream.


"Some of the woodfree producers are still taking downtime and this has affected the market," he added.


Sdra is also planning a further maintenance stoppage at its Mnsters pulp mill, which will remove 20,000 tonnes of market pulp from production.


This follows a stoppage at Mnsters at the end of March "to balance supply and demand" which also took out some 20,000 tonnes of pulp.


The signs are that buyers believe the market price cannot fall much further, which has galvanised them into action, but this cannot be seen as an indication that the market is on an upward turn.


The performance of one grade could affect the whole balance.


Story by Andy Scott