The influence on ECF bleaching load by SAQ® cooking is deliberated by the analysis of unbleached pulps. SAQ has been used as a cooking additive in many KP mills. By SAQ cooking, not only reduction of kappa number but also increase of brightness was observed in all the unbleached pulps. Furthermore, hexenuronic acid (HexA) content in unbleached pulp was not affected. Therefore, the ECF bleaching load can be reduced by SAQ cooking.