Recent Articles

The union representing more than 200 workers facing unemployment after Canfor announced its plan to permanently shut down the pulp line at Prince George Pulp Mill still doesn't know how many positions will be lost.

Mercer has promoted its Vice President, Controller, Richard Short to succeed Mr. Ure as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary.

A person suffered multiple non-life-threatening injuries Thursday morning when falling through a roof covering a machine inside the Sappi Fine Paper mill in Skowhegan, officials said.

The facility, which is in Ashland, Virginia, will produce lightweight, 100-percent-recycled linerboard and medium and initially was projected to cost around $380 million. The company now reports the total cost of the project at around $515 million to $525 million, with $396 million invested in the project to date (2018-2022).

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company ("RRD"), a global provider of marketing, packaging, print and supply chain solutions, announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with DATA Communications Management Corp., a provider of marketing and business communication solutions. Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement DCM will acquire RRD's Canadian operations.

The mill employs about 230 people and is the town's biggest private employer. The owners, Pixelle Specialty Solutions of Pennsylvania, had announced in September 2022 that the mill would close, citing economic forces that made operations unsustainable. In November, the date of the closure was set at April 30.

Södra has decided to investigate the conditions for a new large-scale sawmill in Kinda in Östergötland. A preliminary project will be undertaken and serve as a basis for a future investment decision.

Conifex Timber Inc. will be temporarily curtailing its Mackenzie, British Columbia (BC) sawmill commencing February 21, 2023 for up to two weeks. Unsustainable inventory levels due to rail transportation challenges impacting the interior BC region have necessitated this step.

The upgrades include a new corrugator, converter, single facer, preheater, glue machine, and control systems as well as an upgrade to the existing single facer and unitizer.

Stora Enso will invest approximately Euro 30 million in its Heinola Fluting site in Finland to renew the energy set-up and process equipment. After the investment, the site can replace also the remaining fossil-based fuels with renewable bioenergy. This will reduce the site's greenhouse gas emissions with more than 90%.

The impending Merced, California, plant closure and subsequent capacity reduction is a reflection of the overall market decline in the retail advertising insert and publication printing markets.

HTP employs more than 130 people and is today one of the largest importers and distributors of foodservice packaging in Australia serving a wide network of customers including metropolitan and regional packaging wholesalers, food wholesalers, club and hospitality suppliers, and national quick service restaurant businesses.

Local United Steel Worker unions have voted down another contract with Graphic Packaging International and have given a 10-day notice to strike.

LSC Communications-MCL announced that it has reorganized operations to strengthen its ability to serve the rapidly changing needs of its customers. The magazine and catalog printing unit will now go to market as three brands: ENRU™Logistics and Postal Optimization, KODI Collective™ Marketing Execution Services, and LSC™ Print Solutions.

You stink and I'm sick and buy stuff...

I talked about ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) issues last month using the example of the oil industry and the results they have had with various strategies. I wanted to come back to this again this month with another set of considerations.

The PM40 closed Friday, 3 March 2023, at 5382.

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

Study of games being used to advance AI research and train computers

The PM40 closed 3 March 2023 up 20.7% from the 4 March 2022 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Boise Cascade and Mercer International.

Sylvamo was selected to replace Resolute Forest Products (RFP) on the PM40 when Resolute's common stock ceased to be listed on the the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange after the Paper Excellence Group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Domtar Corporation, on April 1 announced the successful closing of its previously announced acquisition of Resolute Forest Products Inc.

Some 47,000 hectares of plantations, mainly pine forests it uses to manufacture its wood products, could potentially be affected, the firm said in a letter to the local regulator.

Unions representing hundreds of paper mill workers in British Columbia are fighting to resolve payment issues three years after a cyberattack compromised the system that kept track of workers' pay, court documents show.

Canfor's plan to permanently shut down the pulp line at Prince George Pulp and Paper by March and potentially put as many as 300 mill workers out of work is not the only grim reality facing the north central B.C. wood industry.

Oregon environmental officials say cleanup is nearly complete following a Feb. 10 train derailment near Newport that spilled an estimated 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel.