Jun 08, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. Vancouver, British Columbia-based Mercer International Inc. today announced it is raising its price of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp in Asia by US$30 per tonne, effective immediately, as reported by Forestweb. This brings its new list price in China to $580/tonne. This is the first known pulp price increase announcement to be made in June, and this one is for new business, but there are rumors that other producers are also planning to make announcements for other major markets, effective July 1. Mercer did not specify a reason for the increase. However, the recent rapid weakening of the U.S. dollar and consequent strengthening of currencies elsewhere has put a critical squeeze on Canadian, Brazilian, and other major pulp exporters. In early May, Mercer had announced $20/tonne increases for all new business in Asia, bringing its list price in China to $550/tonne. Other major NBSK producers made similar announcements. Mercer's production capacity, all NBSK, is approximately 1.4 million tonnes/year, making it one of the largest producers of the grade. Its Celgar pulp mill in Castlegar, British Columbia, has a capacity of 470,000 tonnes/year and its Rosenthal and Stendal mills in Germany have respective capacities of 310,000 tonnes/year and 600,000 tonnes/year.