Asia Symbol Joins Shanghai Pulp Week 2021 to Focus on Balance, Stability and Sustainability

Shanghai Pulp Week 2021 ran from October 11 to 15, with the China Paper Industry Chamber of Commerce under the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce as host. Asia Symbol supported the event as co-organizer and was the exclusive sponsor of the Shanghai Pulp Week Annual Conference. The gathering brought together leaders and experts from the United Front Work Department, the National Development and Reform Commission, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and leading domestic and international pulp and paper companies.

The annual conference was organized around the theme “New Growth, Rebalancing.”

Policy and market topics such as dual carbon, dual reduction, dual control, and rising energy and raw material prices are creating distinct challenges and fresh opportunities across industries. As the largest domestic supplier of market wood pulp, Asia Symbol aims to support the orderly and stable development of the pulp sector and market, guided by stability, sustainability, responsibility, and win-win cooperation.

Hu Wei, Vice President of Business, Asia Symbol

On the morning of October 14, during the opening keynote session of the annual conference, Hu Wei—Vice President of the China Paper Industry Chamber of Commerce and Vice President of Business at Asia Symbol—was invited to present “Hardwood Pulp Market Analysis and Outlook.”

Hu examined the industry’s recent macroeconomic landscape and development through three lenses: the macroeconomic environment, hardwood pulp supply, and hardwood pulp demand. He noted that the global economy continues to recover, with global GDP projected to expand by 5.8% in 2021, 4.7% in 2022, and 4% in 2023. As the pandemic becomes normalized and pandemic and vaccine distribution remain mismatched, global recovery is expected to unfold in a staggered sequence: China first, followed by consumer countries, manufacturing countries, and resource countries.

He also pointed out that global wood pulp entered a new capacity expansion cycle starting in 2021, yet limited global wood chip resources mean new wood pulp supply will likely fall short of expectations. Other market factors include persistently low port inventories in Europe and China, logistics challenges affecting pulp supply, and an excessively wide hardwood pulp price gap between China and European and American markets.

On demand, Hu said global hardwood pulp demand keeps rising, while worldwide paper and paperboard demand is set for an accelerated rebound; plastic restriction factors should make that growth even more visible. China’s paper industry, meanwhile, is gradually entering another round of capacity expansion, and production and power restrictions plus “dual carbon” will speed up industrial optimization and restructuring. Resource-based companies with integrated forestry-pulp-paper operations and captive power plants stand to gain a stronger position under the “dual carbon” policy.

Keywords: dual carbon action plan, sustainable development

During the wider Shanghai Pulp Week program, participants launched the “Dual Carbon Action Plan for the Whole Industry Chain of the Pulping and Papermaking Industry” initiative and released reports including “Change and the Way Out under the ‘Dual Control of Energy Consumption’ Policy” and “‘Dual Carbon’ Goal Roadmap and the Future.”

Asia Symbol actively puts sustainable development into practice, treating it as both a goal and a pathway. The company applies stakeholder theory and the triple bottom line approach covering economic, social, and environmental performance. It communicates with stakeholders, responds to their concerns, and seeks balanced economic, social, and environmental development, using concrete actions to contribute to better lives.

Amid efforts to respond to “dual carbon,” “dual reduction,” and “dual control” policies, China’s paper industry still faces constraints related to energy, raw materials, and capacity. As the largest domestic supplier of market wood pulp, Asia Symbol will leverage its industry strengths and role to promote exchange and collaboration across the sector. It will remain customer-oriented, continuously improve product quality, ensure stable production and supply, provide multi-faceted technical services, and pursue win-win outcomes with customers.

Source: reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-378453.html