Recent Articles

WestRock plans to close its Lexington facility and lay off 153 workers later this year, according to a filing with the N.C. Department of Commerce. The cuts will begin on March 18, according to the filing.

PT Riau Andalan Paperboard International, part of APRIL Group, has initiated the commissioning of its new IDR 33.4 trillion (US$ 2.3 billion) paperboard manufacturing plant, bringing it a step closer to full-scale commercial production, which is expected later this year.

UPM Raflatac plans to open a new state-of-the-art slitting and distribution terminal in the Toronto, Canada metropolitan area. The new facility will improve service and quality to UPM Raflatac's customers in Eastern Canada and Northeastern U.S., while strengthening relationships in the region.

Graphic Packaging International plans to close its facility at 800 Westinghouse Blvd. on March 31, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) recently filed with the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The closing will result in 112 layoffs starting March 11.

A company spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the decision to close the plant came after an evaluation of the company's portfolio.

Clearwater Paper Corporation, a premier supplier of quality tissue and bleached paperboard products, announced that it has had to temporarily suspend its operations in Lewiston, Idaho due to uncertainty in natural gas supply and damage caused by extreme cold weather. The company is restarting equipment and production at the facility as weather conditions permit.

Stephen Prentiss, labor and employment counsel for Marcal, which is based in New Jersey, confirmed Tuesday morning that the Vermont mill would be closing.

The state-of-the-art facility, which came online in Q4 2023, adds new capacity to the company's water-based adhesive manufacturing. This becomes the third location in the Greif Adhesives Group network, along with Kernersville, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Texas.

The new owners plan to sell certain mill assets that are no longer usable on the property. An auction is scheduled for May 7-10, 2024.

Seth Kursman, the Vice President of Corporate Communications, Sustainability and Government Affairs at Resolute Forest Products, says the fire started in part of the building's power distribution system.

The mill has the capacity to produce around 250,000 tonnes of pulp per annum and will provide the Group with access to local, high-quality fibre from a well-established wood basket as part of a long-term partnership with West Fraser.

The addition of automated, state-of-the art thermoforming equipment at Amcor's world-class healthcare manufacturing plant in Oshkosh, Wisconsin will support increasing demand from customers in the medical, pharmaceutical, and consumer health sectors.

The Quzhou-based paper mill, located in Zhejiang province, is a world leader in the production of translucent papers for applications ranging from industrial design and graphics to food, consumer electronics and luxury packaging.

Government of British Columbia is injecting up to $8.6 million through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF) into eight capital projects. These projects aim to create and safeguard hundreds of jobs in the wood-product and fabricated-metal manufacturing sectors, fostering economic growth in local communities.

Would shaking up your thinking improve your career or the business you manage?

The PM40 closed Friday, 2 February 2024, at 5160.

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 2 February 2024 down 8.1% from the 3 February 2023 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate 3M and Sonoco.

Enviva Inc. announced that on January 23, 2024 it received notification (the "Notice") from the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") that the Company is no longer in compliance with NYSE continued listing criteria that requires listed companies to maintain an average closing share price of at least $1.00 over a consecutive 30-trading-day period.

As the company notes, good demand for logs remains. So they are hiking prices...

The order also includes a biomass boiler.

The delivery of the machine is scheduled for August 2024.

Hengan has now 15 Andritz tissue machines in operation.

Delivery will take place this year, which means that commissioning of the machine is planned for January 2024.

Kadant Inc. has completed the acquisition of KWS Manufacturing Company, Ltd. ("KWS") for approximately $84 million in cash, subject to certain customary adjustments.