ENCE Energía y Celulosa, S.A. (EEYCF) Q1 2025 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the NSAQ-1 2025 results presentation. I will now hand over to Mr. Ignacio Colmenares, Executive Chairman, and Alfredo Alvello, CFO. Gentlemen, please go ahead. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for joining NSAQ-1 2025 results conference hall. Sorry for the small delay, but as you can see, we have a light problem on the presentation. You are going to see some paragraphs in red. We don't know why. We've been trying to correct that, but we haven't been able. Our CFO, Alfredo Avello, and our head of IR and M&A, Ines Alvarez, are also connected to this call. After the presentation, we will be pleased to answer any questions you may have. The date... Pulp supply demand balance drove prices higher in the first quarter, as you can see on slide six. Pulp prices bottomed out in December. Since then, the European hardwood pulp price has rebounded by 21% to $1,218 for orders placed in March and delivered in April. Demand for market pulp continued to grow in the first quarter driven by China, with a 5% year-on-year increase to February. The record price differential with softwood pulp is boosting demand for hardwood pulp. Hardwood pulp demand was up 7% year-on-year to February. On the supply side, pulp producers' inventories remain relatively low at 40 days. Moreover, the bankruptcy of a large integrated Chinese pulp and paper producer has created a paper supply gap, and the major Brazilian mill continues to switch from hardwood to dissolving pulp. I believe that this tight pulp supply demand balance should continue to support strong pulp prices, despite the short-term turbulence caused by the US tariffs In the medium term, pulp demand growth is expected to continue at healthy rates, driven by tissue consumption, while no...