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.
As the costs of energy, labor and chemicals have changed relatively less than those of wood fiber the past year, the wood cost as a percentage of the production costs when manufacturing pulp have fallen. In the 2Q/13, wood fiber costs accounted for just over 59% of the production costs on a worldwide basis, down from approximately 63% in the 2Q/12 but up from 51% in 2006, according to Fisher International.
Although wood fiber prices have trended downward for most of the past few years, softwood fiber prices were actually up from the previous quarter in the 3Q/13 in most countries worldwide with just a few exceptions including Sweden, Brazil, and Australia.
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