Archives

The PM40 closed Friday, 12 June 2020, at 2665.

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

The PM40 closed 12 June 2020 down 18.4% from the 14 June 2019 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate PCA and Stora Enso.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

Ladies and gentlemen, the first class of inductees to the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame in Appleton, Wisconsin was inducted more than two decades ago in 1995, and today, more than 140 papermaking innovators and legends have been enshrined. This month, we profile Charles (Chuck) Klass, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Kadant Johnson LLC, a subsidiary of Kadant Inc., launched the new PT2X steam joint for paper drying applications.

Kadant Fiberline (China) Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Kadant Inc., started up three OCC systems at China's Chaozhou Hefengte and Anhui Linping.

Effective June 1, 2020, Solenis LLC closed on its previously announced acquisition of the paper business of ChemSystems, a division of AECI Ltd.

Solenis is expanding production at its Ankleshwar facility in India to manufacture its next-generation Pergafast™ 425 color developer for the thermal paper market.

TietoEVRY is partnering with Turck Vilant Systems to generate more value for data in the logistics ecosystem.

Valmet will supply a complete steam boiler plant to Norske Skog's paper mill in Bruck an der Mur, Austria.

Valmet will supply cooking and fiberline to Guangxi Sun Paper Co., Ltd's new Beihai mill in China. The pulp mill will have a capacity of 800,000 air dried tonnes per year of bleached hardwood kraft pulp. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

The Sofidel America facilities in Circleville, Ohio, and Haines City, Florida, obtained the BRC (British Retail Consortium) "Consumer Product Standard for Household & Personal Care Products" certification, a standard that certifies that business processes take into account product safety, legality and quality requirements and the company's ability to deliver safe and quality products to final consumers.

Evergreen Packaging® announced the release of TruSpec® Inkjet Book with ColorPRO Technology, a new digital coated matte paper developed in conjunction with HP.

Like fellow local giants FedEx and First Horizon, International Paper Co. (IP) has spoken out against the killing of George Floyd, and racial injustice in America.

Mera realised that this type of pet food would require bespoke packaging to keep the chewable morsels fresh and moist for the duration of the product's life span, while also being sustainable by design.

Made from a 100% paper-based combination of Hexacomb and corrugated, the Thermo Box keeps frozen food including fish at temperatures similar to expanded polystyrene (EPS) boxes.

As market demand for fluorochemical-free, oil and grease resistant (OGR) food packaging substrates increases, Twin Rivers Paper Company advanced the category with the reformulation of its EcoBarrier product line. This high-barrier, next-generation paper delivers performance and choice to converters and brand owners for demanding fast food, quick-serve, and fast-casual food applications.

Clearwater Paper Corporation announced a preliminary update to the company's previous outlook for second quarter 2020 Adjusted EBITDA of $45 to $55 million.

Sonoco announced its Tube & Core North America division will implement a tube and core scrap return subscription service, effective July 1, 2020.

BillerudKorsnäs and UPM have entered into an agreement that will extend the supply agreement for pulp, steam and electricity for the production at BillerudKorsnäs' mill in Pietarsaari.

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has concluded an agreement to supply Klabin, Brazil's largest producer and exporter of packaging paper, with three Kalmar Zero Emission rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs).

Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc., North America's largest privately owned manufacturer of fine papers, envelopes, and specialty materials for printing, recently unveiled a groundbreaking portfolio of papers made from rapidly renewable, sustainable fibers.

Safeture AB said it signed an agreement with U.S.-based International Paper, one of the world's leading producers of fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper, for its full Enterprise platform. This is a key step for Safeture's expansion in the U.S market.

SCA is setting aside trial sites in the Sörgraninge conservation park for continuous cover forestry (CCF). The trial sites are part of a collaboration between SCA and the Swedish Forest Agency and will be used for training and follow-up to provide more knowledge of CCF methods.

Latvijas Finieris has together with Stora Enso taken the next steps towards replacing phenol - in resins used in plywood - with lignin.

Activists have condemned the conviction and jailing of an indigenous farmer in Sumatra whose community is embroiled in a long-standing land dispute with paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP).

A man who alleges he suffered severe burns and permanent disfigurement while working at the Graphic Packaging mill in Queen City, Texas, in January 2019 is suing the company in a Texarkana federal court.

The value of the investment is approximately Euro 200 million.

Clearwater Paper executives acknowledged Monday they don't expect a $160 million upgrade finished in 2017 at their Lewiston facility to save as much money as they anticipated.

Canfor Corporation, further to its announcement on November 9, 2018, completed the purchase of Elliott Sawmilling Company Inc. on May 31, 2020.

The Verso Corp., owner of the Luke Paper Mill, said no offers have been tendered on the property and it is preparing the site for sale to third parties for alternative uses.

Welch Packaging, a multi-site family-owned business concentrated in the Midwest, has acquired Excel Display and Packaging, a supplier of retail packaging, displays, and food packaging along with digital print capabilities located in Aurora, Illinois.

The Board of Södra has appointed Lotta Lyrå as new President and CEO. She will take office this year and thereby replace CFO Peter Karlsson, who has been Interim President since 20 February this year.

Paper Excellence Canada will be curtailing operations at its pulp mill in Mackenzie.

Verso Corp. said Tuesday, June 9, that it expects to lay off about 1,000 employees, as it idles idles mills in Duluth, Minnesota and Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin this summer, given the accelerated decline in demand for graphic paper given the COVID-19 pandemic.

UPM Jyväskylä plywood mill employs 167 people.

UPM is aiming to find sustainable solutions for replacing fossil-based raw materials and offering environmentally sound alternatives.

The natural gas boiler was unloaded at the mill in Green Bay to replace the coal-fired one.

The parent company for the idled Northern Pulp mill says it has filed an appeal with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court related to a ministerial order issued last month for the management of the site.

Out of a total of Euro 350 million invested in the conversion of the mill, approximately Euro 40 million will be used for environmental improvements of the mill. The investment will improve the mill's odour and noise situation and decrease the water emissions.

Stora Enso's drone research used a drone and a multispectral camera to detect insect damages in Finnish forests.

Suzano, the global reference in the production of bioproducts from planted eucalyptus, reports its first Greenhouse Gas Inventory with consolidated data after the merger that originated the new company.

The FTSE100 sustainable packaging leader has announced the appointment of Wouter van Tol as Head of Sustainability and Government Affairs.

Employees at Sappi's Cloquet paper mill are being temporarily laid off in rotations as demand for the mill's products wane amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A small fire occurred Thursday afternoon, June 4, at Roseburg Forest Products in Coquille, Oregon.

International Forest Products LLC (IFP) appoints Dan Stebbins as Director of Export Containerboard Sales.

Mercer International Inc. reports that its Celgar mill, in addition to regularly planned maintenance downtime of five days, will be taking approximately 30 days of additional downtime (aggregate 52,000 ADMTs) in July 2020.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. announced that, in working with its lenders under its Senior Secured Credit Agreement, it has entered into an amendment under which, among other changes, the lenders have agreed to relax the financial covenants through 2022.

UFP Industries, Inc. announced that fire partially damaged its facility in Ashburn, Georgia, during the early morning hours of June 3, 2020.

Verso Corporation announced that Terrence M. Dyer has been appointed Verso's Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Communications, effective June 1, 2020.

Green Bay police are saying little about an industrial accident that killed a 52-year-old man at Green Bay Packaging on June 12.