Fastmarkets and NOREXECO launch first ever European pulp futures settled on spot indices

LONDON, Dec. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Fastmarkets, an industry-leading cross-commodity price reporting agency, and NOREXECO, a leading commodity exchange for the pulp and paper industry, today announces the launch of two industry-first spot futures contracts for the Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) and Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft (BEK) markets. These new contracts will address significant shifts in pulp market pricing and the growing need for more transparent and efficient tools for managing price risk.

This launch marks a major milestone in the evolution of the European pulp market. While previous European futures contracts settled against Fastmarkets' benchmark PIX indices, which reflect the gross contract price, these new contracts display spot price levels - demonstrating their increasing importance as a key reference for industry participants. They provide a new and effective way for the management of price exposure with greater accuracy.

"These new European futures contracts are a game-changer for the industry," said Matt Graves, Fastmarkets' Senior Vice President. "By aligning closely with the dynamics of net price levels, we are providing market participants with a powerful tool to manage risk more effectively and adapt to evolving pricing trends."

"The introduction of these European spot prices expands Fastmarkets' extensive global coverage of net prices for pulp, complementing existing price assessments for North America and China. This gives the industry a more complete and transparent view of the global market, empowering better decision-making," he added.

"The two new contracts will supply the industry with an important tool for managing price risk. Settling on spot price also opens up opportunities for traders and arbitrators, bringing necessary liquidity into the market. With experience from other commodity markets, we see that having relevant tools for managing price risk is embraced by the industry," said Stein Ole Larsen, NOREXECO CEO.

"We are incredibly excited to partner with NOREXECO to bring these innovative futures contracts to the European market," said Przemek Koralewski, Global Head of Market Development at Fastmarkets. "This launch is a direct response to the market's need for more sophisticated risk-management tools and underscores our commitment to deliver solutions, together with our commodity exchange partner, that meet the changing needs of the market. This is a significant step forward for the industry."

This initiative is a continuation of the successful partnership between Fastmarkets and NOREXECO, which already includes contracts for net prices of NBSK and BHKP in China and recycled containerboard, all underpinned by Fastmarkets' industry-leading price assessments.

For further information, email media@fastmarkets.com to connect with the team and find out how Fastmarkets can help you.

ABOUT FASTMARKETS

Fastmarkets is an industry-leading PRA and information provider for the agriculture, forest products, metals, carbon and energy transition commodities markets. Fastmarkets serves its customers with commodity benchmark prices and assessments, forecasts, analytics, insights, news and events. Its data is critical for customers seeking to understand and predict dynamic, sometimes opaque markets, enabling trading and risk management.

Fastmarkets is a global business with a history dating from 1865 and is built on trust and deep market expertise. It has more than 850 employees spread across several global locations including the UK, US, China, Singapore, Brazil, Bulgaria, Belgium, Ukraine and Finland.

Fastmarkets is a privately held UK-registered company owned by its shareholders and Astorg, a European private equity firm.

ABOUT NOREXECO

NOREXECO is a regulated marketplace (exchange) for pulp & paper futures contracts. The exchange is licensed by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and is accessible from most regions globally.

NOREXECO has since October 2018 offered electronic trading based on the KB Tech Portal system. Several third-party systems connect to this trading system. In cooperation with European Commodity Clearing (ECC), KB Tech Ltd, trade repository Regis-TR of Luxembourg and market leading indices provider Fastmarkets FOEX/RISI, NOREXECO offers a complete structure for trading derivatives on an exchange, perfectly in line with the new regulatory regime sought worldwide.

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