Quick Look, The Latest Pulp Data Is Out!

On November 18, at the 2025 China Pulp Market Seminar held in Chongqing, Zhao Wei, chairman of the China Paper Association, gave a speech introducing the operating conditions of the pulp and paper industry from January to September 2025.

From January to September this year, China's cumulative production of paper and paperboard reached 121.13 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.13%; production of virgin pulp was 12.43 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 10.31%; production of paper products totaled 49.52 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.38%.

The industry's total main business revenue was 1,037.57 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.14%. Among them:

- Pulp manufacturing: 15.88 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.15%;
- Paper and paperboard manufacturing: 581.11 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3.45%;
- Paper products manufacturing: 440.59 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.02%.

The industry's total profit was 27.12 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 15.63%. Among them:

- Pulp manufacturing: 0.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 51.27%;
- Paper and paperboard manufacturing: 12.60 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 17.12%;
- Paper products manufacturing: 14.13 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.43%.

Among the three major sub-sectors of pulping, papermaking, and paper products, both papermaking and pulping showed significant declines, while only the paper products sector remained stable.

From January to September this year, imports of various commodity pulps were 27.06 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%. Among them, bleached softwood pulp was 6.43 million tons, up 1.5 million tons year-on-year; bleached hardwood pulp was 12.51 million tons, up 12 million tons; elemental chlorine-free pulp was 820,000 tons, up 50,000 tons; dissolving pulp was 3.38 million tons, up 350,000 tons; chemical mechanical pulp was 950,000 tons, down 40,000 tons; recycled pulp was 2.95 million tons, down 260,000 tons.

Zhao Wei also made predictions for the full-year production and sales, forecasting that in 2025, total imports of commodity pulp will reach 36 million tons (including 5 million tons of dissolving pulp and fluff pulp, 4 million tons of recycled pulp). Total production of paper and paperboard for the year is expected to be 140 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%; domestic virgin pulp production is expected to be 33.5 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 9%; and recycled pulp production will be about 66 million tons.