According to foreign media reports, in 2021, the wood fiber costs of pulp manufacturers in various countries tracked by wood resource quarterly (wrq) increased.

In the third quarter of 2021, the softwood fiber price index (sfpi) reached its highest level since 2014 – 8.1% higher than that in the third quarter of 2020. In western Canada, the southern United States, Latin America and Oceania, the price rise of softwood fiber is the most obvious. The price of coniferous wood pulp in the southern United States increased by 9% year-on-year, which is an unusual increase in areas with relatively small price adjustment in history. Other notable price increases were softwood chips in western Canada (+ 11%) and softwood logs in France (+ 9%), Brazil (+ 20%) and Chile (+ 15%).

Since reaching a record high in 2011, the broad-leaved wood fiber price index (hfpi) has experienced a downward trend for nearly a decade. Although it has increased in the past year, the current broad-leaved wood fiber price index is about 4% lower than its 30-year average. In 2021, the price of hardwood pulp in almost all major hardwood pulp producing areas in the world increased.

The cost of wood raw materials for Brazilian pulp manufacturers increased by nearly 10% month on month in the third quarter of 2021. The demand for logs in the solid wood industry has been high, and sawmills and veneer mills are increasingly competitive with small-diameter logs commonly used by pulp mills, composite board manufacturers and pig iron industry. Pig iron industry is an important consumer of Eucalyptus logs for charcoal. The output of Eucalyptus logs increased by 18% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2021.

The high demand and tight supply of logs have pushed up the price of sawn wood and logs, reaching an all-time high in Brazilian real terms. In dollar terms, the price of eucalyptus pulp logs has increased by more than 20% compared with the 15 year low at the beginning of 2021. Despite the sharp jump in the cost of wood fiber over the past year, Brazilian pulp mills still have the lowest cost of wood fiber in all regions tracked by Wood Resources Quarterly.

The cost of wood fiber in Chilean pulp mills also showed an upward trend in local currency over the past year, reaching an all-time high in the third quarter of 2021 and almost doubling in a decade. However, due to the weakness of Chile’s currency, the price change in dollar terms is more moderate, and the current level is closer to its ten-year average. As the cost of hardwood pulp in Chile is much lower than that in North America and Europe, the pulp industry in Chile is very competitive in the global market.