Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft Pulp for Fiber Product Research
Closed Pre-Solicitation Posted
- Solicitation number
- NIST-MML-26-SS04
- Agency
-
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Department of Commerce
- Responses due
- Set-aside
- No set-aside
Opportunity facts
- NAICS code
- 322110 Pulp Mills
- PSC
- Not on record
- Points of contact
Notice details come from SAM.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a civilian agency under the Department of Commerce, is issuing a Sources Sought Notice to identify potential contractors capable of supplying Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp for fiber product research purposes. This pre-solicitation notice seeks information on contractor capabilities and is not a formal request for proposal or quotation; no solicitation documents currently exist, and NIST will not award a contract or compensate respondents based on this notice. The primary requirement calls for the provision of approximately 5 air-dried metric tons (ADMT) of NBSK pulp bales meeting minimum specifications of 87 ISO brightness, 2.0 mm average fiber length, and 90% air-dry content, with appropriate packaging using pulp sheets and wire wraps or suitable alternatives for transit and storage protection. The notice provides a deadline of March 5, 2026, for interested parties to submit their capability information, allowing NIST to assess the market and available sources prior to issuing a formal solicitation. This Sources Sought Notice serves primarily as a planning tool to gauge contractor interest and feasibility rather than as a binding procurement instrument.
This procurement carries no set-aside designation for small businesses, veteran-owned entities, or other special categories. No incumbent contractors or previous award values are identified in this pre-solicitation notice, and no specific budget range or contract value is disclosed at this stage. The notice falls under NAICS code 322110 (Pulp Mills), indicating the commodity nature of the procurement and the type of suppliers NIST intends to target. The quantity specified—approximately 5 ADMT of NBSK pulp—represents a relatively modest procurement volume, suggesting this may be for research or testing purposes rather than large-scale production. Interested contractors should prepare detailed responses addressing their capabilities to meet the specified pulp quality standards and delivery and packaging requirements, though such responses will be used only for planning purposes and will not obligate NIST to proceed with any subsequent acquisition.
Notice text
SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE
Document Type: Sources Sought Notice
Notice Number: NIST-MML-26-SS04
Title: Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft Pulp for Fiber Product Research
NAICS Code: 322110
Contracting Office Address
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
Acquisition Management Division,
100 Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 1640,
Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-1640
This is a Sources Sought Notice ONLY. Requests for copies of a solicitation will not receive a response.
This Notice is for planning purposes only and is not a Request for Proposal or Request for Quotation or an obligation on the part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for conducting a follow-on acquisition. NIST does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this Notice, or otherwise pay for the information requested. No entitlement or payment of direct or indirect costs or charges by NIST will arise as a result of submission of responses to this Notice and NIST use of such information. NIST recognizes that proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary components, interfaces and equipment, and clearly mark restricted or proprietary data and present it as an addendum to the non-restricted/non-proprietary information. In the absence of such identification, NIST will assume to have unlimited rights to all technical data in the information paper.
NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS EXIST AT THIS TIME.
Requirement:
NIST is seeking information on contractors who can provide the following:
The contractor shall provide approximately 5 air dried metric tons (ADMT) of Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp bales with minimum specifications of 87 ISO brightness, 2.0 mm average fiber length, and an air-dry content of 90%. The contractor should provide the pulp bales wrapped appropriately with pulp sheets and wire wraps, or a suitable alternative to protect the pulp during transit and storage.
Interested parties shall describe the capabilities of their organization as it relates to the service described above. NIST anticipates issuing a Request for Quotation in the third quarter of FY26, and awarding a contract no later than the fourth quarter of FY26.
NIST is seeking responses from all responsible sources, including large and small businesses. The small business size standard associated with the NAICS code for this effort, 333310 - Pulp Mills is 1,050 employees. Please include your company’s size classification and socio-economic status in any response to this notice.
After results of this market research are obtained and analyzed, NIST may conduct a competitive procurement and subsequently award a contract. Companies that can provide such services are requested to email a written response describing their abilities to donald.graham@nist.gov no later than the response date for this sources sought notice.
The following information is requested to be provided as part of the response to this sources sought notice:
- Name, Address, UEID, CAGE code, and point of contact information of your company.
- Any information on the company’s small business certifications, if applicable.
- Description of your company’s capabilities as they relate to the products described in this notice.
- A description of your company’s previous experience providing the services described in this notice.
- Indication of whether the services described in this notice are currently offered via your company’s GSA Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, Government-wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), or other existing Government-wide contract vehicles; and, if so, the contract number(s) for those vehicles.
- Any other relevant information that is not listed above which the Government should consider in finalizing its market research.
Responses are limited to a total of twelve (12) pages. The responses must be in MS Word format. Pages shall be 8½-inch x 11-inch, using Times New Roman 11 Point Font. Each page shall have adequate margins on each side (at least one inch) of the page. Header/footer information (which does not include any information to be analyzed) may be included in the 1" margin space.
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