Mercer's 2025 report shows softwood pulp averaging $1,710 on list in North America and $722 net in China. Mercer says its net prices in China end up similar to other markets once discounts are taken off.

Almost 73 million tons of wood pulp crossed a border in 2024. This post explains what pulp is, what it is used for, and how it travels from a tree to a port.

In 2015 the largest pulp route was Canada to China. In 2025 it was Brazil to China, at 10.6 million tons, and seven of the ten largest routes ended in China.

One 72,000-ton cargo of Brazilian pulp took from March 4 to April 9, 2024 to reach China. This post follows one bale through eight steps and shows where cash is tied up.

For 2024, Uruguay's own customs filing to the UN shows one pulp entry worth $52,244. China recorded 1.64 million tons of pulp from Uruguay. This post sorts each data gap into established, plausible or unknown.

A kraft mill cooks wood in chemicals, then burns the spent liquor to rebuild those chemicals. One line now handles more than 8,000 tons of pulp a day, against a 1980 view of 1,000 to 1,400.

In 1980 a study put the limit for one pulp line at 1,000 to 1,400 tons a day. Suzano's Cerrado fiberline is rated at over 8,000.

The mean age of Brazil's planted eucalyptus stands is 6.8 years. In southern Finland the normal rotation is 60 to 80 years. In 2021 Brazil's pulp output passed that of Sweden and Finland combined.

A modern kraft pulp mill burns the dissolved wood left over from cooking to make steam and power. Metsa says its Kemi mill generates 2.5 times the electricity it consumes.

Two equipment makers, Valmet and Andritz, supplied the main equipment for the world's newest large pulp mills. Only two of the order values are public.

Three British Columbia pulp mills named access to affordable wood fiber among their reasons for stopping. Two of them also named poor pulp prices.

Pulp mills already sell tall oil and turpentine. Lignin has a mixed record: a Finnish plant closed in 2023 and a Swedish one is due in 2027.

Dissolving pulp is the wood pulp that becomes viscose and lyocell. China imported 4.54 million tons of it in 2025, while newer wood-based fibers are still pilots.

Fiber lids are in production at licensee and Huhtamaki sites. Paper bottles are at pilot or small scale. This post sorts each product by stage and sets out the EU rules.

Borregaard's Sarpsborg plant, with 1,000 metric tons of dry capacity a year, is the only commercial microfibrillated cellulose plant with a verified capacity. This post sorts new cellulose materials from lab to production.

PEFC certifies 295,982,894 hectares of forest, but under the EU deforestation rule a certificate is complementary information only. This post lists what an EU pulp importer must hold from December 30, 2026.

Brazil's pulp exports grew from 12.0 to 22.3 million tons in ten years, and China took about two thirds of the increase. The sources we found show one large mill under construction and two projects with no start date.

Canada's pulp exports fell 28.5% in ten years, and sawmill chips are one reason. The US makes 19.5% of the world's pulp and is rebuilding a fluff mill in Alabama.

Sweden and Finland made 21.0 million tons of pulp in 2024. Families own much of the forest, and two of the biggest pulp makers are owned through forest owner groups.

Uruguay's mills made 4.2 million tons of pulp in 2024, yet its own customs filing to the UN lists one pulp entry worth $52,244. The mills sit in free zones.