On August 6 local time, Brazil's Suzano announced that as of that day, its commercial pulp production for the next 12-month operating cycle would decrease by approximately 3.5% compared to its annual nominal production capacity of commercial pulp.
In the past twelve months ending in the second quarter of 2025, the company produced 11.8 million tons of pulp. This production cut means a reduction of approximately 400,000 to 500,000 tons, equivalent to about 1% of the global demand for 40 million tons of broadleaf wood pulp.
Suzano said that given the severe pulp market environment, the current pulp production has not brought sufficient returns. Suzano is the world's largest producer of broadleaf wood pulp, operating eight pulp mills in Brazil with a total annual pulp production capacity of 13.4 million tons.
This production cut came after similar measures were taken by its rival Bracell, which announced that it would continue to produce more dissolving pulp from September to November instead of broadleaf wood pulp.
Production cuts may help reduce inventories and tighten the supply and demand dynamics of pulp, which could benefit broadleaf pulp peers such as UPM, STERV and ENCE, as well as coniferous pulp producers like SCA.
In the coniferous wood pulp sector, active production cuts have affected supply by 2-4%. Fenbao Company temporarily closed its Joutseno plant with an annual output of 690,000 tons on June 9th until further notice, resulting in a 2-3% reduction in the global supply of 26 million tons of coniferous wood.
In addition, UPM has also extended the maintenance work of its 700,000-ton-per-year Kaukas plant for the third quarter.
