San Francisco. Oct 18, 2004. /Diane Keaton, Forestweb/. Chinese pulp buyers have quickly accepted the $510/tonne price for November shipments of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) that was announced earlier this week, according to supplier, agent, and buyer sources. They said buyers, including traders and end-users, are taking all available volumes and would take more if possible. Canfor Corp. of Vancouver, B.C., told Chinese customers on Oct. 12 that it was raising its China NBSK price by $30/tonne to $510/tonne for November shipments (see Forestweb, Oct. 13). At least three other B.C. producers have followed suit and have sold volumes at the new prices, sources said. In fact, they said, there is no question that $510/tonne is the new price. "$510 is absolutely a done deal for November shipments, and the price could possibly move above $510," said an agent doing business in China. Within 24 hours, the consensus in China was to take all available tonnes at the $510/tonne price, he said. He added that Chinese prices are bouncing back to the current lowest NBSK spot prices in North America of $510-$530/tonne. Meanwhile, Canfor has closed October business in South Korea at a list price of $510/tonne (down $40/tonne), market sources said. In addition, sources said hardwood pulp demand in China is very brisk. "Finally Chinese buyers are back to the market, but we have to look at…whether they will continue to purchase or if it is just a one-shot (deal) after the September-October buying," he said. He said his company is still trying to analyze whether the latest developments are for real. Negative factors include the still-difficult financial situation and the trouble that Chinese and papermakers elsewhere in the world are having regarding increasing their prices, he said. A Chinese agent also questioned how long the upswing would last, but added that local paper prices in China have increased, "so everything is looking good right now." October has been the biggest volume month in China all year--and more than the previous three months put together, the agent said. Traders are accounting for a lot of the demand at the latest price of $510/tonne, according to some sources. A supplier source said some end-users are going through traders because of their own cash-flow problems, but that some others are also buying directly. "Everyone wants to buy because the price has gone up," he said. Some sources indicated that producers might be tempted to hold off on some of their volumes, releasing a little at a time in the hope that more will be sold later at higher prices. Europe, U.S. prices. The strong Chinese reaction to $510/tonne for November shipments of NBSK is likely to firm up the $590/tonne NBSK October list price in Europe, the market pulp consultant said. He noted that an 8% discount off of the European price yields a transaction price of $543/tonne, and that Western Canadians have lower freight rates to China than to Europe, so that the nets in both regions are not dissimilar. "Canadians have options," he said. "They can and have sold decent tonnes to China, and so have the Chileans and Russians." (The Chileans and Russians are expected to announce their prices for November shipments to China by the end of next week.) U.S. customers said pulp producers generally are being competitive with Weyerhaeuser Co.'s decreased October prices, but that they are not making formal announcements. As reported previously, for North America, the Federal Way, Wash.-based Weyerhaeuser dropped its list prices by $30/tonne, to $620/tonne for NBSK, $600/tonne for southern bleached softwood kraft (SBSK), and $520/tonne for southern bleached hardwood kraft (SBHK). Its NBSK price in Europe is down $30/tonne to $590/tonne; Södra Cell AB of Sweden also followed. Several U.S. buyers said they have not received word of any change in the September BEK list price of $555/tonne, but a couple of buyers added that they haven't closed business yet. One buyer said it hadn't settled any hardwood prices yet this month, but expected $20-$30/tonne drops. "A lot of hardwood hasn't closed this month," the buyer added. A spot NBHK buyer said prices had dropped about $20-$30/tonne this month to the low $400s or less (this includes wet-lap), and appeared to be bottoming.