Wood fiber costs downward

Wood fiber costs, which account for about 60 percent of the production costs when manufacturing pulp, have been in steady decline in many parts of the world for the past two years, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. In the 3Q/13, the Hardwood fiber price index (Hfpi) had fallen 17 percent since 2011, while the Softwood fiber price index (Sfpi) was down 10 percent over the same period.
The wood costs for the global pulp industry have trended downward in a majority of the pulp-producing regions of the world the past two years, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (Woud Resource Quarterly). This has mainly been the result of lower prices for market pulp but also because of reduced pulp production and increased supply of wood fiber in some regional markets.