Sodra has announced price increases for its softwood and hardwood pulp for European customers with effect from 1 October.

Marketing director Ulf Edman said the increase was down to improved stock levels at the company following downtime it took earlier in the year.

"Suppliers' and customers' stocks are now rather low, and we feel this is a good opportunity," he added.

Northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp is to increase by E30 per tonne to E480, while Northern birch hardwood is set to rise by E15 to E465 per tonne.

Metsa-Botnia has announced a similar increase, following the lead of several North American producers.

North American newsprint producer Bowater
has announced that its production curtailments will now exceed original expectations by some 40,000 tonnes, and will now total 120,000 tonnes for the third quarter.

Bowater said that it anticipated continued weakness throughout the fourth quarter.