Archives

The PM40 closed Friday, 16 October 2020, at 3129.

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 16 October 2020 up 4.7% from the 18 October 2019 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Rayonier and Weyerhaeuser.

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 the late Niilo Hakkarainen, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016.

Södra Cell has appointed ABB to supply and install a new, state-of-the-art Quality Control System (QCS) at its specialty mill in Mörrum, Sweden, which produces paper pulp and hardwood dissolving pulp for customers throughout Europe. Delivery is planned for October 2020.

AstenJohnson announces a new investment in its Kanata Ontario dryer plant. This investment will address the increased demand for locally supplied dryer fabrics in the US and Canadian markets.

The board of Finnish engineer Neles is sticking with its recommendation for shareholders to accept a takeover offer from Alfa Laval, saying it does not have enough details on a rival merger proposal from Valmet to make a comparison.

Valmet will supply an extensive paper machine grade conversion rebuild and a wide scope of automation to Modern Karton Sanayii Ve Ticaret at its Tekirdağ Mill in Turkey.

Voith introduces a new screen plate design for pulpers used in recovered paper pulping. The CurvedBar screen plate extends service life in Voith's IntensaPulper IP-R by more than 50% and improves the quality of fiber suspension.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö advances into the North American customized digital printing market, and launches Ahlstrom-Munksjö WallStar® Digital, its new portfolio of fiber-based solutions for digital printing applications.

Evergreen Packaging®, a global leader in plant-based packaging solutions today announced that Clover Sonoma, a third-generation family-owned and operated dairy, is transitioning its half-gallon organic milk to the PlantCartonTM package with RenewablePlusTM paperboard by Evergreen.

Essity's leading hygiene and health products are essential in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. To further help people tackle the new challenges of today, Essity is extending its offering by launching face masks in its retail and Professional Hygiene businesses.

Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, is delighted to announce that five cartons produced using its quality paperboards were selected as winners at the 2020 European Carton Excellence Awards at a virtual ceremony organised on 7th October.

During the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, the Metsä Pavilion will serve as a home base for the Finnish national teams.

ND Paper is introducing a new offering of bleached and natural kraft bag paper products manufactured at its Rumford, Maine mill.

Following the creation of Pixelle Specialty Solutions in 2018 and its expansion in 2020, Pixelle leveraged synergies across its specialty mills platform to introduce North America's largest portfolio of release liner papers, featuring 50 different standard products.

Rayonier Inc. announced an $80,000 donation to the American Red Cross, the Marion Polk Food Share, and the Oregon Food Bank for disaster relief assistance to the communities impacted by the recent wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and the recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast.

Stora Enso is introducing its new eco-friendly take-away bowls for food service packaging, PureFiber™ by Stora Enso.

The Tetra Pak® Tubular Heat Exchanger equipment​ has become the first tubular heat exchanger to receive the EHEDG certification​ meeting the leading food safety standards in Europe, in accordance with new standards.

Sonoco is implementing a $50/ton (USD/ST) increase on all domestic and export corrugating medium grades shipping from its Hartsville, South Carolina paper mill. The prices are effective with shipments on and after November 2, 2020.

Mondi, a leading global packaging and paper manufacturer, has partnered with Adelaide Brighton Cement and Pope Packaging on the development of a new water-resistant paper bag called 'Rain Barrier,' made out of Mondi's Advantage Protect White sack kraft paper, for the Australian construction market.

Norwich City and Kotkamills are delighted to announce their sustainability partnership, the first ever in the club's history.

University of Oulu and Metsä Group have entered into a partnership agreement in which research and educational cooperation will be deepened in order to develop sustainable forest industry. The aim is to increase interaction and work life contacts between students and the company.

A federal agency filed suit against a packaging manufacturer at McClellan Park for allegedly tolerating virulent racial taunts against two Black employees who were so distraught by the discrimination that they ultimately left their jobs.

Turner Drake and Partners, Ltd. (property tax experts) recently reviewed all Eastern Canadian pulp and paper mill property taxes and confirmed that our New Brunswick mills were in the top quartile for taxes paid.

Nova Scotia regulators have rejected an attempt by Resolute Forest Products to obtain confidential business information from its paper-making rival, Port Hawkesbury Paper.

The petitions, filed by Domtar and Appvion, call for antidumping duties to be imposed on imports from Germany, Japan, Korea and Spain.

The total cost of the Bear Island conversion will be about $380 million, which includes the initial $35 million acquisition cost paid to White Birch Paper in 2018.

The project marks Spanish company Saica's expansion into the U.S. market, and represents a $72-million investment.

PaperWorks is investing $25 million in additional new, state-of-the-art equipment to enhance its North American capacity and innovation capabilities. The equipment will be installed at the company's Baldwinsville, New York converting facility.

The $360 million facility is the company's second greenfield investment in the United States and can turn out 120,000 tons of tissue per year.

UPM celebrated the official start of the construction of the state-of-the-art biochemicals facility in Leuna, Germany. The biorefinery investment of EUR 550 million is a major milestone in UPM's strategic transformation.

Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC) has acquired the former WestRock retired paper manufacturing facility in Newberg, Oregon. The site was acquired by CDC affiliate Newberg OR LLC. The transaction included the acquisition of real estate assets and a corporate indemnification for legacy environmental liabilities associated with the site. CDC and affiliates will now oversee the sale of equipment and demolition of the buildings.

The deal, expected to close in November, will see Spokane-based PotlatchDeltic sell the land to The Conservation Fund for $48 million.

International Paper announced that it completed the previously disclosed sale of its Brazilian corrugated packaging business to Klabin S.A. The business has three containerboard mills and four box plants.

A subsidiary of United States-based International Paper (IP) has filed a notice posted to a Turkish investment oversight agency website indicating it is considering options to sell the stake it holds in Turkey-based Olmuksan International Paper Ambalaj Sanayi ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi. That company operates containerboard mills and downstream corrugating plants in Turkey.

Lecta announces that today it has reached an agreement for the acquisition of Avery Dennison Offset Sheets business in the Europe - Middle East - North Africa (EMENA) region. The transaction is subject to competition approval from the German Federal Cartel Office.

Holmen signed an agreement to purchase Martinsons over the summer and 1 October marked the formal change of ownership. To celebrate the occasion, a key handover ceremony took place at the sawmill in Bygdsiljum, which will now become one of the largest in the Holmen Group.

Sonoco announced it has signed an agreement to sell its Europe contract packaging business to Prairie Industries Holdings, a Wisconsin-based contract packaging and contract manufacturing firm backed by The Halifax Group, a Washington, D.C.-based global investment firm, for $120 million in cash.

The new machine will be one of the most technologically advanced machines in North America producing 400,000 tons per annum of high performance light weight medium and liner. Production is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.

As a result of the weakening world economic outlook as well as the COVID-19 related restrictive measures and their consequences, the uncertainty in UPM's market environment continues. To ensure future competitiveness, UPM keeps taking action to decrease fixed and variable costs in its businesses and functions.

Norske Skog has announced to employees and stakeholders in New Zealand that due to the likely irreversible and rapid negative impact that COVID-19 has had on the newsprint industry in the region, the group has engaged in a broad process to identify alternative production options to reposition the Tasman newsprint mill at Kawerau industrial site in New Zealand.

P. H. Glatfelter Company is changing the name of its parent company to Glatfelter Corporation. In addition, the company completed the construction of its previously announced new Corporate Headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Stora Enso's paper machines in Oulu, Finland have now ceased production. When Stora Enso announced the investment for Oulu Mill conversion, it promised to provide WFC papers to customers until the end of 2020 with deliveries to continue through Lumipaper NV and Lumipaper Ltd.

Employee consultations for UPM Communication Papers were concluded at the Jämsä River mills this week. The UPM Kaipola paper mill in Jämsä, Finland, will be closed permanently by mid-December. UPM's second paper mill in Jämsä, UPM Jämsänkoski, will continue operations with one graphic paper machine and two specialty paper machines.

Amcor is proud to be joining a new call for a UN treaty on plastic waste, following a recent report from Boston Consulting Group, World Wildlife Foundation and Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Arctic Paper Kostrzyn S.A., a subsidiary of the Arctic Paper S.A., has signed a contract with Poland's National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR) for co-financing of the project. The total net value of the project is over PLN 20 million ($5.3 million), and the maximum value of the co-financing is about PLN 8.3 million ($2.2 million).

FPInnovations is in the final stages of the accreditation process to become a Certification Body of Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) in Canada.

EcoVadis is an independent rating agency specializing in the evaluation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), including sustainable development and performance monitoring of suppliers. This achievement places Greif among the top three percent of suppliers evaluated by EcoVadis.

Huhtamaki is donating €600,000 to fund a project that aims to stop the flow of plastic into the Indian Ocean from the Mithi River in Mumbai, India. The project is one of three initiatives that Huhtamaki has funded as part of its 100-year anniversary to address global sustainability challenges and build and learn from circular economy initiatives globally.

As part of its commitment to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) principles, The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC has become a signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The PRI is the world's leading proponent of responsible investment. Becoming a signatory demonstrates Molpus's long-standing commitment to sustainability.

On Wednesday, 7 October, Sweden's Minister for Enterprise Ibrahim Baylan inaugurated Södra's plant for commercial biomethanol at the pulp mill in Mönsterås.

The permit covers the new biorefinery operations as well as the necessary modifications required at the pulp mill to create the desired synergies between operations.

Cascades Inc. announced that it will progressively and permanently close tissue production and converting operations at its Ransom and Pittston plants, located in Pennsylvania, between December 7 and January 31st of 2021.

This involves the scheduling of employee and contractor support, as well as creating a work scope and major footprint of the activities critical to ensure resources are in place in a safe, timely, and cost-effective manner.

Stora Enso has completed the co-determination negotiations concerning the closure of one standard newsprint paper machine (PM3) and the deinking plant at Stora Enso's Hylte Mill in Sweden. The maximum personnel impact is 140 people.

WestRock Company announced that it plans to reduce its solid bleached sulphate (SBS) mill system production capacity by 200,000 tons by shutting down one paper machine at its Evadale, Texas, mill.

The plan would generate over $600,000 in tax revenue.

An investigation is ongoing following the death of a worker at a Hinton, Alta. pulp mill on Monday, Oct. 5 that prompted a stop work order for a scaffolding contractor.