In the Wall Street Journal last Wednesday, there was a discussion on the decisions made by big oil. One had to read several stories to put it together, but the exercise was worthwhile and instructive. On the one hand, Chevron and Exxon have been following a strategy of staying the course and have been rewarded with eye-popping profits. On the other, BP has moved towards a mitigating climate change, ESG strategy and not performed so well. Just my luck, the one I owned in my little stock portfolio that my wife allows me to play with is BP. In the pulp and paper industry, senior management has the same sorts of decisions to make and I am not talking about climate change and ESG. What I mean is this--do you follow the crowd or do you chart your own path?

The PM40 closed Friday, 3 February 2023, at 5614.

Get the latest PM40 updates by listening to the weekly Nips show and the PM40 Daily Show on Pulp & Paper Radio International.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate 3M and Resolute Forest Products.

The PM40 closed 3 February 2023 up 24.4% from the 4 February 2022 level.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

In this special episode, we talk with Stein Larsen, CEO NOREXECO ASA.

This temporary reduction in output is expected to be mostly concentrated outside of Interfor's US South operating region.

Asia Symbol (Guangdong) Paper has successfully started up its tissue production line delivered by Andritz for its mill in Xinhui district, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province, China.

More problems at Macon's Graphic Packaging facility sent more than 100 million gallons of polluted wastewater into the Ocmulgee River.

Mixed results on year-end bonuses...

Late last month, the company stated it would conduct a holiday shutdown through the month of January, but the work stoppage will now carry over through the entire month of February.

Georgia-Pacific has scheduled the official retirement of its Quanah Acme Gypsum plant for March 1, 2023. In 2020, Georgia-Pacific announced it would be retiring the Acme plant and shifting production to other company facilities. Since then, the plant has been fully operational, producing the company's variety of gypsum products.

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Incidents in 2023: We are updating this list as these happen in the pulp, paper and forest products industry

We are updating this list as these happen in the pulp, paper and forest products industry

We are updating this list as these happen in the pulp, paper and forest products industry

Pulp and Paper Manufacturers report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission

What they want us to know...

Amcor announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Shanghai-based MDK. MDK generates annual sales of approximately $50 million and is a leading provider of medical device packaging, a key priority growth segment for Amcor.

The US Commerce Department plans to raise tariffs on two of Canada's largest timber companies, while reducing tariffs on most other Canadian producers.

Domtar's Kingsport Mill recently produced its first 100% recycled containerboard. The milestone marks the culmination of a two-year, $350 million investment project to convert the former uncoated freesheet paper mill into Domtar's first 100% recycled packaging facility.

Located in Kansas City, this new 150,000 sq. ft. millwork facility is expected to begin production in June 2023.

International Paper Company announced that it entered into an agreement to sell its 50% interest in Ilim SA to its joint venture partners for $484M. The company noted that the sale is subject to regulatory approvals in Russia.

Closures and cutbacks