Global and China Dissolving Pulp Industry Report, 2019-2025

In 2018, global dissolving pulp capacity outstripped 10 million tons and its output surged by 14.0% from a year ago to 7.07 million tons, roughly 70% of the capacity. China, as a key supplier of dissolving pulp, produced 1.56 million tons (a 22.1% share of global total) in 2018, 2.5% less than in the previous year, with output showing a CAGR of 4.8% from 2012 to 2018.

China’s dissolving pulp market in 2018/2019 is featured as follows:

By product segment: wood pulp output sustained growth, while cotton and bamboo pulp and modified pulp kept falling in output. In 2018, 1.07 million tons of wood pulp, or 68.6% of China’s total dissolving pulp output, was produced, up by 1.9% on an annualized basis; the output of cotton & bamboo pulp and modified pulp reduced by 8.6% and 15.0%, respectively.

By price: due to China-US trade tensions (China imposed additional tariffs of 5% on dissolving pulp originating from the United States; China and the United States placed additional 25% tariffs on viscose staple fiber originating from each other), Chinese dissolving pulp (wood pulp) price has presented a choppy downtrend since the second half of 2018, nose-diving to around RMB6,500/ton in the first half of 2019, compared with over RMB7,500/ton in 2018.

By application: viscose staple fiber uses the most dissolving pulp. China’s output of viscose staple fiber jumped by 7.6% over the previous year to virtually 3.95 million tons in 2018, showing a CAGR of 11.6% between 2008 and 2018. The continued expansion of viscose staple fiber capacity and the release of downstream cellulose fiber capacity in the forthcoming years will favor solid growth in the viscose staple fiber output of the country.

By competitive pattern: globally, key dissolving pulp producers are Sappi (South Africa), Bracell (Brazil), Lenzing (Australia), and some Chinese companies like Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co., Ltd., Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd., Hunan Juntai New Material Technology Co., Ltd. and Fujian Qingshan Paper Industry Co., Ltd.. In 2018, global CR10 exceeded 70%, among which Sappi came to the top spot with a 13.4% share in the global market. As the biggest Chinese producer of dissolving pulp, Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co., Ltd. which swept 19.2% shares in the Chinese market in 2018, occupies 5.0% of the global market.

Global and China Dissolving Pulp Industry Report, 2019-2025 highlights the following:

• Dissolving pulp (definition, classification, industry chain, etc.)
• Global dissolving pulp market (status quo, competitive pattern, and price)
• China dissolving pulp market (status quo, supply, demand, price, import, competitive pattern, etc.)
• Downstream viscose staple fiber market (status quo, capacity, output, import and export, price, etc.)
• 5 global and 9 Chinese dissolving pulp producers (operation, revenue structure, dissolving pulp business, etc.)