Market - global use of virgin fibre

The use of cellulose fibre for production of paper, board, textiles and hygiene products worldwide amounts to about 412 million tonnes per year.
Just over half of this consists of recycled fibre. The rest is “fresh fibre” from coniferous and deciduous trees, about 190 million tonnes annually. Around 60 percent of this is produced and consumed in integrated paper and board mills.

The remainder, around 78 million tonnes, consists of market pulp. It is dominated by chemical pulp, about 42 percent of which is long-fibre pulp made from softwood. The proportion of mechanical pulp is relatively modest, about 4 million tonnes.

Europe, which is Rottneros’ main market, consumes just over 19 million tonnes of market pulp annually, corresponding to about 24 percent of global consumption. About half of the world's market pulp, around 36 million tonnes, is consumed in Asia, including 23 million tonnes in China. The North American market, which is dominated by hygiene products and specialty paper, amounts to about 8 million tonnes.