Mercer curtails Rosenthal NBSK pulp mill for maintenance and market reasons
Mercer International is curtailing production this month at its 360,000 tonne-per-year Rosenthal northern bleached softwood kraft mill in Germany, for a mix of scheduled maintenance and market-related reasons. The downtime comes as Mercer continues to switch its Celgar mill from NBSK to unbleached kraft pulp on a weaker NBSK market. US NBSK spot prices to the East and Midwest rose USD 5 per tonne to USD 700-720 net delivered through 11 September 2026.
Why this mattersEuropean downtime and announced Canadian closures are thinning spot NBSK availability, giving producers their first price gain in months.
- Rosenthal has capacity of 360,000 tonnes a year of NBSK pulp.
- The September 2026 curtailment covers both scheduled maintenance and market-related downtime.
- Mercer is shifting Celgar output from NBSK to unbleached kraft pulp on a weaker NBSK market.
- US NBSK spot prices to the East and Midwest rose USD 5 per tonne to USD 700-720 per tonne net delivered through 11 September 2026.
- Preliminary September US NBSK contract list prices were unchanged at USD 1,570 per tonne; SBSK was flat at USD 1,505 per tonne.
- Announced closures of Canfor and Domtar market NBSK mills in Canada have so far had little price impact.
Sources
fastmarkets.com