May 24, 2007. /Lesprom Network/. Sodra will raise its prices for both softwood and hardwood pulp from 1 June, to $800/tonne for softwood and $700/tonne for hardwood pulp. “The price rises are a natural consequence of the current strong market situation,” says Ulf Edman, CEO for Sodra Cell International. “At the same time we must remember that although $800/tonne is one of the highest quotations in dollars ever, it is not a record in Euros or Swedish kronor. If you convert into these currencies, the price of $720/tonne in 2000, for example, was higher than today’s euro price, since the dollar exchange rate was a lot stronger then.” Sodra expects the market for pulp to remain strong in the immediate future. “We see the trend in quarter three as being positive as well,” says Ulf Edman. Sodra is a co-operative of over 35 000 private forest owners in southern Sweden. Together, their estates account for some two million hectares of productive forest land – over half of the privately-owned forest in southern Sweden. In 2004, the group employs over 3 600 people, who work in various roles and from various locations in Sweden, Norway and elsewhere around Europe.