Recent Articles

UPM will close the unexplained gender pay gap that cannot be explained for example by person's performance, work experience, job grade or job location, i.e. the factors that typically determine a person's salary and its development. The pay equity review, carried out this year, applies to all of UPM's operating countries and is part of the company's fair remuneration policy.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö is exploring strategic options for its Decor business, including the possibility of divesting the business. The review process, first announced on September 17, 2019, has been impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Arup Basu, President, Flexible Packaging, and a member of Huhtamaki Global Executive Team has decided to leave Huhtamaki. The process to find Arup's successor has been initiated.

Clearwater Paper Corporation announced that Christine M. Vickers Tucker has been elected to the company's board of directors, effective May 18, 2021.

Sustana, a manufacturer of premium, sustainable recycled fiber and paper products, announces the appointment of Emily Olson to Director and Sustainability Ambassador. In this new role, Emily will be an ambassador for driving Sustana Group's sustainable products, strategy, and circular economy initiatives across Sustana Fiber and Rolland, advancing the group's leadership in providing sustainable recycled products to the paper industry.

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 Arnold E. Grummer, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

The PM40 closed Friday, 14 May 2021, at 4449.

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 14 May 2021 up 75.7% from the 15 May 2020 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Clearwater Paper and Neenah Paper.

A federal bankruptcy judge gave final approval to the sale of the shuttered Ponderay Newsprint mill in Usk to Allrise Capital Inc.

Interfor announced that its Board of Directors has declared a one-time special cash dividend of $2.00 per share, which will be paid on or before June 28, 2021 to shareholders of record on May 28, 2021.

Sonoco announced an agreement to repurchase $150 million of its outstanding common shares in an accelerated share repurchase ("ASR") transaction with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., using available cash on hand.

The New-Indy mill is belching out too much of a "noxious air contaminant," making parts of Lancaster and York counties and neighboring areas in North Carolina, including Charlotte, reek, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

The increased investment underpins the sustainable packaging company's new Circular Economy led Sustainability strategy which pledges to offer all customers 100% recyclable packaging within two years and replace a billion pieces of supermarket and e-commerce plastic by 2025.

Clearwater Paper is expecting to take temporary downtime in the coming weeks at unspecified locations of its tissue operations.

Clearwater Paper has filed a civil case in Nez Perce County District Court against Valmet, a company that sold it some equipment used in a $160 million upgrade at the company's Lewiston operations.

The owners of an idled pulp mill in northern Nova Scotia say their plans for a new effluent treatment facility have been withdrawn from the province's environmental assessment process.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued Pixelle Specialty Solutions a hazard alert letter on Jan. 5 but did not fine the company in relation to a digester explosion on April 2020 because no OSHA standard applies.

Skookumchuck Pulp has recently received three different administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) from the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy for non-compliance events that occurred between 2017 and 2020. Skookumchuck Pulp's performance has not changed significantly over the last two years; however, all the AMPs the mill has received in its 53-year history have occurred in the last two years. The BC Ministry of Environment has begun using this tool more frequently with all industrial operators in the province.

Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. announced a strategic investment in Anomera Inc. Anomera produces the highest quality Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) in the world under the brand names DextraCel™, ChromaPur™ and ChromAllur™.

Pixelle Specialty Solutions, owner of the Androscoggin Mill in Jay, has filed a lawsuit against contractors responsible for inspecting and providing maintenance on the pulp digesters in the years preceding the equipment's rupture on April 15, 2020.

As part of our continued support, Iconex wanted to provide an update on the Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping duties filed by Appvion Operations Inc. and Domtar Corporation. On May 6, the USITC published their preliminary findings in this case. The final position will not be determined until September or October of this year. The published preliminary duties are...

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) announced that 65.7 percent of paper consumed in the United States was recycled in 2020, maintaining a recycling rate that has been consistently high for over a decade. Since 2009, paper recycling has met or exceeded 63 percent--nearly double the rate the U.S. paper industry achieved in 1990.

PotlatchDeltic Corporation released its 2020 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The Report highlights PotlatchDeltic's continued commitment to environmental stewardship, human capital management, supporting its communities, and towards creating sustainable value.

With increased pressures on companies to use recyclable packaging, Smurfit Kappa Composites have devised a solution under their Better Planet Packaging initiative - the Smurfit Kappa Eco-Tube.