With China’s pulp import market remaining at a standstill and the bleached softwood kraft (BSK) pulp futures market continuing to slump, prices for the two newly-launched China pulp futures contracts on Oslo-based Norexeco dipped slightly at the front end.

NOREXECO ASA, the international pulp and paper exchange, launched two cash-settled China pulp futures contracts on June 1 based on Fastmarkets’ prices to meet growing demand for hedging in the international pulp market.