Changes to the Future Market
Introduction
The market fluctuations due to new technology, market demand from growing countries and demand for process chemicals are all things that need to be taken into account when looking in to the future for the New Zealand pulp industry. As the world continues to grow we have more and more progressing countries that are using more paper and therefore wood pulp. Other developed countries in the world are beginning to move away from the paper dependant societies that we have been.
Future market for pulp
As technology progresses people often say that we are moving away from the paper based society that we are used to, but contrary to belief the world is using increased amounts of paper every year. As anyone who has played the stock market can tell you it is quite difficult to predict market fluctuations but as Paper Industry World (2015) state, ‘in 15 years’ time we will need 150 million tonnes more paper in the world’. This will mean an increase in the pulp industry worldwide. This in itself creates problems driving up the demand on the required chemicals and the wood chip.
The reason for the growth of the worldwide pulp industry is due to progressing countries such as China. A large percentage of the worlds’ export of wood pulp these days is going to china but as china is doing this importing they are also growing their own pulp industry in doing this the market for New Zealands’ pulp will begin to decrease this is a concern to the New Zealand industry but there is no way to know when or how much this will impact New Zealand.
Future market for Kraft chemicals
The Kraft process is the most used pulping process in the world. The two main chemicals used in this process is sodium sulphide and sodium hydroxide. The price of these chemicals has stayed quite constant over the years due to the competitive market. There are a lot of uses for these chemicals such as detergents, making dyes, food preservative and in oil recovery. An increase in the demand for these chemicals in other markets could cause an upset in the supply for these chemicals as the pulp market grows
Conclusion
The market fluctuations due to new technology, market demand from growing countries and demand for process chemicals are all things that need to be taken into account when looking in to the future for the New Zealand pulp industry. As the world continues to grow we have more and more progressing countries that are using more paper and therefore wood pulp. Other developed countries in the world are beginning to move away from the paper dependant societies that we have been.
Written by: Hayden Gardner