NBSK Pulp
Northern bleached softwood kraft — the reinforcement fibre benchmark.
Indicative HS heading: 4703.21
Prices are quoted per enquiry. Availability, origin and certification are confirmed per shipment.
Product overview
NBSK is the reference grade of world market pulp. It is made from slow-grown northern softwood by the kraft (sulphate) chemical process and then fully bleached, and its value comes from fibre length: long, strong northern softwood fibres form a sheet network that carries tensile and tear strength through the paper machine and into the finished product.
Mills use it as reinforcement. A tissue furnish built mainly on short hardwood fibre gets softness and bulk but not strength; adding NBSK restores wet and dry strength so the sheet survives converting. In printing and writing grades and in board, the same logic applies at different ratios. The practical question a buyer asks is how much strength a pulp delivers per unit of refining energy, because over-refining to compensate for weak fibre costs both energy and fibre quality.
Brightness, brightness stability (resistance to yellowing) and cleanliness — measured as dirt count — round out the specification. Bale presentation and wire-free unitisation matter more than they sound: a broken bale in a pulper is a real production problem.
Canadian supply context
Canada is one of the world's principal NBSK producers, with mills in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces drawing on northern softwood species. Canadian NBSK is a long-established reference in international market pulp trade.
Canadian mills operate under recognised sustainable forest management and chain-of-custody certification schemes. Where your market or your customer requires certified fibre, state which scheme applies so it can be contracted rather than assumed.
Types, grades and variants
All variants of NBSK Pulp are supplied from this single product record — there is no separate page or separate specification to chase.
NBSK — standard market pulp
The benchmark reinforcement grade for most furnishes.
High-strength NBSK
Where tear and tensile delivery is the limiting factor.
Tissue-optimised NBSK
Balanced for softness and strength in tissue furnishes.
Certified fibre supply
FSC or PEFC chain-of-custody where contracted in advance.
Key specifications
Indicative ranges for the commodity. Lot values are confirmed on the certificate of analysis for each shipment.
- Grade
- Northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK)
- Brightness
- Typically 88–90 % ISO; confirmed per mill specification
- Moisture
- Around 10 % as baled; air-dry basis for weight settlement
- Strength
- Tear, tensile and burst reported per mill specification at defined refining
- Cleanliness
- Dirt count maximum per specification
Applications
- Tissue and hygiene paper reinforcement
- Printing and writing paper furnishes
- Packaging board and liner
- Specialty and filter papers
- Dissolving-adjacent and technical paper grades
Packaging & supply options
- Standard baled market pulp, typically around 250 kg per bale
- Unitised bales (commonly 8 bales per unit), wire bound
- Container shipment or breakbulk vessel
Export & commercial notes
- Market pulp trades on an air-dry tonne basis; confirm the weight and moisture settlement basis in the contract.
- State whether certified fibre (FSC / PEFC) is required — chain of custody must be contracted, not added later.
- Quoted FOB, CFR or CIF; container and breakbulk both available depending on volume.
Documentation
Commonly relevant documents. Availability is confirmed per order and destination.
- Mill quality certificate / Certificate of Analysis
- Certificate of Origin
- Chain-of-custody certificate where contracted
- Weight and moisture certificate
- Packing list with bale and unit count
Related industries
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