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Mercer International Inc. (Public, NASDAQ:MERC) You may need paper to print money.

August 19, 2009 – Comments (0) | RELATED TICKERS: ARA , NP , IP

Mercer is one of the largest NBSK, market pulp producers in the world

 

Two major NBSK producers, Mercer International of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Tembec, now plan $50/metric ton price increases in September that would bring list prices to $780 in North America. According to the Pulp & Paper Week industry newsletter, Tembec of Témiscaming in Quebec has told customers its price increase comes amid tight supply, very strong demand and rising cost pressures. There are market estimates that July inventories have dropped below July's below-normal 3.3 million metric tons.

 NBSK producers tell Pulp & Paper Week that U.S. demand is stronger than expected because, having run down their pulp stocks, domestic printing and writing papermakers are now taking less downtime, driving a need to restock. But many are unable to replenish inventories as much as they would like because producers have two-month order backlogs.

 spot price for Northern bleached hardwood kraft (NBHK) is $545/metric tons, up from $525 in July, buyers report, and below the effective list of $600. Southern bleached hardwood kraft (SBHK) increased to $540 in the spot market, up from $525 in July, and below the effective list of $580. Pulp & Paper Weekreports that a hardwood kraft producer recently put U.S. customers on allocation, an unusual measure that only happens when supply is very tight.

 1.33 

-0.02 (-1.48%)

 

Real-time:   12:09PM EDTNASDAQ real-time data - DisclaimerRange 1.20 - 1.3752 week 0.25 - 6.54Open 1.37Vol / Avg. 180,471.00/137,000.00Mkt cap 48.44MP/E     -Div/yield     -EPS -4.92Shares 36.42MBeta 2.09Inst.