Wood pulp market development in specialty
——Billy Wang, Central National Asia Limited

Mr. Wang provided a comprehensive review of the diverse applications of wood pulp across the cellulose value chain and the broader market landscape. Wood pulp is now used across papermaking, textiles and specialty materials. Demand for wood pulp has grown steadily in segments such as spunlace nonwovens, regenerated cellulose fiber, amino film plastics and cellulose ethers. Global cellulose ether output has reached 1.3 million mt/year, with China accounting for more than half of the market. Demand for products such as carboxymethyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose remains strong in personal care, pharmaceutical and food applications. Domestic non-ionic cellulose ether output has reached 300kt/year, while microcrystalline cellulose capacity stands at 50kt/year, and quality requirements for pharmaceutical-grade products continue to rise. Applications in emerging areas such as nanocellulose are also expanding rapidly. Domestic annual wood pulp demand has now formed a clear structural distribution across these segments, with combined demand from spunlace nonwovens and regenerated cellulose fiber exceeding 1 million mt. As downstream industries place greater emphasis on cost control, the substitution of pulp for dissolving pulp is becoming increasingly evident, and the industry is placing ever greater importance on raw material cost performance. Going forward, wood pulp is expected to see broader application in specialty cellulose markets, while also facing multiple challenges including raw material quality, cost volatility and technology upgrades.




