Finnish strike

The Finnish Industrial Association said that it refused to reach a settlement agreement with employers, so the possibility of a strike in February by Finnish multi-trade unions was further increased. At the same time, the Finnish Transport Workers Association also said that it would consider a strike in February. Although the workers of the Paper Industry Association said that they would not participate in the strike, the obstruction of freight transport may lead to the jam of Finnish pulp and paper in the port.

Limited impact of the strike

This part has limited impact on the domestic pulp market. The pulp and paper products from Finland account for about 0.31% of the total import of pulp and paper products in China. However, the impact on China’s pulp futures still exists. The main pulp futures rose for several days.

International pulp shipment or compensation

We need to consider that under the background of relatively weak demand, the shipment is blocked due to the strike in a single country in Finland or can be compensated by the increase of shipment in other countries. From the domestic inventory data, at the end of January, China’s pulp futures inventory increased by 42.27% month-on-month, the total inventory of factories and warehouses increased by 131.58%, and the total inventory of warehouses increased by 37.45%. Against the background of international bases, it is difficult for China’s bases to be completely attributed to festive factors.

In the context of the contraction of the supply of coniferous pulp, the possible strikes in Finland may not have a huge impact on the market, and the back structure of pulp futures has not been changed at present.