News & Events
Containerboard Market Tightens Further in September as In-Transit Inventories Fall Again
(USA, Oct. 17, 2017) The US containerboard market is tightening with declining inventories at mills and box plants bolstered by a strong box business, says Vertical Research Partners’ packaging and forest products analyst Chip Dillon.
Dillon offered the following insight into the tightening containerboard sector:
Box Shipments Increase by 4.0% Per Day on Challenging Comp
This morning, AF&PA and the Fibre Box Association (FBA) released their September 2017 US box shipments and box plant/containerboard mill data. Box shipments (measured in billion square Read More...
Paper Excellence to buy Brazil’s Eldorado from J&F for $4.7 billion
(Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 2017) Brazilian holding company J&F Investimentos SA on Saturday accepted a proposal from Netherlands-based Paper Excellence to buy pulpmaker Eldorado Brasil Celulose SA for 15 billion reais ($4.7 billion), including debt.
The companies said in a statement that the transaction would take 12 months to complete, and Paper Excellence, controlled by the owners of Indonesia’s Asia Pulp & Paper Co Ltd, would fully assume Eldorado’s debt of almost 8 billion reais.
Eldorado is among the flagship assets Read More...
Brazil’s Forest Products Sector Revenue from Exports of Pulp, Paper and Wood Panels Up 10.9% in First Ten Months 2017
(Brazil, Dec. 1, 2017) The Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá) reported that from January through October of 2017, pulp exports rose 2.9% in comparison with the same period of the previous year, reaching 16.0 million tons sold; exports of wood panels increased by 29.4%, with 1.1 million cubic meters directed toward foreign markets, and paper exports grew 0.4% with almost 1.7 million tons traded. This positive performance propelled export revenues past the US$ 7 billion mark in the first 10 Read More...
Sappi to Increase Prices on Woodfree Grades in Europe by 6-8%, Jan. 1
(Brussels, Nov. 17, 2017) Sappi today announced that it will increase prices for woodfree grades by 6-8% effective on deliveries from January 1, 2018 for all European markets. This follows previous announcements made for its LWC and MWC grades, Sappi added.
In a press release, Sappi said, “Due to continuing input cost increases and unsustainable profit levels, Sappi is forced to continue passing on this cost inflation.
“Despite strong order books, margins continue to be depressed by this severe input cost Read More...
The Navigator Company to Increase Prices for Uncoated Woodfree Paper by 5-7%
(Portugal, Nov. 20, 2017) The Navigator Company announced today that it will be increasing prices across its uncoated woodfree papers portfolio in Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania and Latin America, effective January 1.
The Portugal-based paper producer said the price increases will range from 5% to 7%. (Source: The Navigator Company)
Read More...
Zanders to Hike Prices for All of Its Paper Grades on January 1
(Germany, Oct. 25, 2017) Zanders today announced a price increase of 5-8% for all paper grades, effective on all deliveries as of January 1, 2018.
Zanders said the price hike is the result of continuing increases in raw material costs, namely pulp and chemicals.
Zanders added that sales managers will be contacting all customers shortly to confirm new pricing details.
Zanders is a German manufacturer of high quality specialty papers and boards developed especially for labels, packaging and graphical applications. To learn Read More...
Lecta Distribution Group to Hike Prices by 5-8% for All Paper Grades
(Italy, Nov. 22, 2017) Lecta Distribution Group, made up of Torraspapel Distribution in France, Spain and Portugal, and Polyedra in Italy, today announced that it will increase prices for all paper grades, effective January 8, 2018.
“The price increase will affect our entire product portfolio and it will vary from 5 to 8% according to the product and format,” Lecta said in a press release.
“This movement is unavoidable due to the price increases applied by the majority of our suppliers,” Read More...
UPM Reports Strong Third Quarter Results on Operational Efficiency, Volumes
(Helsinki, Finland, Oct. 24, 2017) UPM’s President and CEO Jussi Pesonen said the company had an “excellent” third quarter with good growth in deliveries and strong operational efficiency with no significant maintenance activity.
The following are Mr. Pesonen’s comments on UPM’s third quarter 2017 results:
“The third quarter was another excellent quarter for UPM. The markets were favourable and we achieved good growth in delivery volumes. We also succeeded in mitigating input cost inflation with sales price increases and cost efficiency Read More...
Fibria Third Quarter Net Revenue Up Sharply on Pricing, Volumes
(Brazil, Oct. 24, 2017) Brazilian market pulp producer Fibria produced 1.449 million tons of pulp in the third quarter, representing growth of 11% on the year-ago period. Compared to the second quarter of 2017, production grew by 9%. This performance benefited from the start-up of the Company’s new pulp mill in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, on August 23, three weeks ahead of schedule, which added 124,000 tons of pulp to Fibria’s total production in the third quarter.
Sales Read More...
Graphic Packaging and International Paper to Create a $6 Billion Integrated Paper-Based Packaging Company
(New York, Oct. 24, 2017) Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK) will create a $6 billion paper-based packaging company by forming a new partnership comprised of Graphic Packaging’s existing businesses and International Paper’s (NYSE: IP) North America Consumer Packaging business. Graphic Packaging Holding Company will own 79.5 percent of the partnership and will be the sole operator. International Paper will own 20.5 percent of the partnership, equivalent to a $1.14 billion value. The partnership will assume $660 million of Read More...
International Paper Reports Third Quarter 2017 Earnings
(USA, Oct. 25, 2017) International Paper (NYSE: IP) today reported third quarter 2017 net earnings attributable to International Paper of $395 million or $0.95 per share compared with net earnings of $80 million or $0.19 per share for the second quarter of 2017 and net earnings of $312 million or $0.75 per share in the third quarter of 2016. Net earnings in all periods include the impact of special items, if any, non-operating pension expense and discontinued operations.
Adjusted operating Read More...
Green Bay Packaging Announces Plans for the Construction of a New Containerboard Machine
(USA, Dec. 1, 2017) Green Bay Packaging (GBP) announced that it is in the first phase of evaluating construction of a new, recycled containerboard machine at its containerboard mill in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
According to the company, the new machine would have a trim width of 220 inches and replace an existing machine with a trim width of 164 inches that was built in 1950.
GBP anticipates the new machine to be operational in 2020. The investment would increase GBP’s recycled Read More...
Stora Enso to Invest EUR 94 Million at Its Enocell and Imatra Pulp Operations
(Helsinki, Oct. 25, 2017) Stora Enso today announced that it will invest EUR 94 million to grow in renewable materials and to increase competitiveness in consumer board and biomaterials. EUR 52 million will be invested to increase the dissolving pulp production capacity at Enocell Mill and EUR 42 million to enhance the availability of the chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP) at Imatra Mills. Both mills are located in Finland.
“We continue to drive our transformation to a renewable materials growth company. While Read More...
Södra Invests in More Forestry Drones
(Sweden, Nov. 27, 2017) Södra is now investing in more forestry drones. This digital technology speeds up the work of field staff at the same time as it makes it more comprehensive and safer.
“We have identified numerous applications where drones can enhance the efficiency of forestry work, not least when making inventories of storm-damaged forests. By purchasing equipment and investing in raising skills, we are taking another step towards the development of tomorrow’s digital forestry operations,” said Johan Malmqvist, Read More...
Fortress Paper Restarts Production at Its Dissolving Pulp Mill in Quebec
(Canada, Oct. 10, 2017) Fortress Paper Ltd. said that its Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill (the “FSC Mill”) in Thurso, Quebec, was restarted on October 6 after work crews made the necessary repairs to a burst in a pressurized auxiliary gas collection system relating to one of the mill’s recovery boilers on September 21. The equipment failure resulted in the shutdown of the mill and its production of dissolving pulp.
“We wish to thank our team at the FSC Mill for Read More...