Market Roundup
U.S. P&W Paper Shipments Decrease 6% in November 2017

Over the Wire

TAPPI

Thursday, January 04, 2018 - Member
Weekly Spotlight
Company sells security paper operations to Swiss National Bank and Orell Füssli Holding for C$28 million.
 
Mondi will acquire the Powerflute operations, which includes a 285,000 metric tpy pulp and paper mill in Finland, for EUR 365 million on an enterprise value basis.
 
Company acquires the 49% equity interest held by The New York Times Co. in Donohue Malbaie Inc. for a cash purchase price in the amount of C$20 million. Resolute already owned 51% of the shares of Donohue Malbaie.
 

Combination creates a leading integrated paper-based packaging company with approximately $6 billion of projected revenue and approximately $1 billion of projected EBITDA post-synergies. It also expands existing and builds new platforms for integrated growth in SBS foodservice markets and folding carton converting.
 
BASF Corporation
Total P&W paper inventory levels increased less than one-half of one percent from October 2017.
 
World-20 Pulp Shipments Rise to 91% of Capacity
November 2017 shipments rise 5% over October 2017 production, which was at 86% of capacity.
 
N.A. P&W Paper Demand Falls 6.6% y/y in November
Demand was down 5.7% y/y through the first 11 months of the year.
 
Stand-up Pouches Market Worth $51.69 Billion by 2022
Rising demand for packaged food, coupled with the cost-effectiveness of flexible packaging solutions, drives the demand for stand-up pouches.
 
Global Sawlog Prices Continue Rising into 2018
Prices were higher throughout the world in the 3Q/17 and are likely to continue upward into 2018 because of strong demand for lumber in key markets, reports the "Wood Resource Quarterly."
 
Warehouse Specialist
Pulp & Paper
Ahlstrom-Munksjö Acquires Land Next to Louveira Plant in Brazil
Acquisition is an important step toward company’s ambition to further develop an industrial platform in South America, enabling it to continue supporting filtration customers in the region for years to come.
 
Bain Capital to Acquire Fedrigoni
Bain Capital Private Equity will acquire the Italy-based specialty paper producer, which has 13 mills (nine in Italy, two in Spain, and two in Brazil), and more than 13,000 products in its catalog, Fedrigoni sells its products in more than 110 countries worldwide.
 
Millar Western Acquires Spruceland Millworks
Spruceland Millworks is a value-added manufacturer and international distributor of high quality SPF wood products.
 
UPM Completes Closure of PM 5 at Blandin, Minn., Mill
Closure reduces annual capacity of coated magazine paper by approximately 128,000 tons. The number of positions affected is 148.
 
Universal Electric Corp.
Containerboard/Packaging
Andritz to Supply Three FibreFlow Drum Systems to Dongguan Jianhui Paper
New pulping processes to be installed at board mill in China include steam heating and high-density cleaning and will replace the mill’s existing low-consistency pulping systems.
 
DS Smith Opens New PackRight Center in Hövelhof, Germany
New center is based in Hövelhof, and will be the sixth to open in the Germany-Switzerland region since the opening of the first center in Hamburg in May 2016.
 
Fire Damages Paper Machine at Carthage Specialty Paperboard
Six workers are treated for smoke inhalation, and one is sent to the local hospital.
 
Huhtamaki to Further Improve Competitiveness in China
Company continues implementing operation efficiencies by consolidating production capacities in China.
 
Oji Group to Install New Containerboard Machine at Malaysia Mill
New machine will add 450,000 metric tpy of liner and corrugating medium capacity, beginning with startup in April 2021.
 
Stora Enso, Poland, to Install New Andritz FRX Shredder
Shredder will process rejects from pulping processes of two existing board production lines at Stora Enso’s Ostrołęka, Poland, mill.
 
New Products
Michelman Bolsters India Presence with New Website
Site focuses specifically on the needs of the Indian packaging market and highlights its major investment, the Michelman Innovation Centre for Coatings.
 
Mondi SPLASHBAG Now Resists Rain for up to Six Hours
New SPLASHBAG, with the outer ply of Mondi Advantage Protect sack kraft paper, keeps up with the needs of advanced customers and end users around the world.
 
Sappi Unveils New Shopping Bag Portfolio for Fashion-Forward Shoppers
New grades launched for innovative shopping bag portfolio are Fashion® White and Fashion® White OF that feature high whiteness with natural and good printing surface in a wide range of virgin fiber grades and grammages between 70 gsm and 130 gsm.
 
People
AkzoNobel Appoints Vree CFO for Specialty Chemicals
Renier Vree’s appointment as CFO becomes effective March 1, 2018.
 
Coldwater Hires Edwards as Ceramics Technical Manager
Rob Edwards will play an active role in Coldwater’s engineering, manufacturing, quoting, training, and selling of this high-performance ceramics product line.
 
Coveris Names Mosser CEO
Jakob A. Mosser will take over the company’s CEO responsibilities from Interim CEO Dimitri Panayotopoulos, effective Jan. 8, 2018.
 
Gosselin to Retire as CEO of KP Tissue, Bianco to Replace Him
Mario Gosselin began his career with Kruger Inc. almost 40 years ago and has held a number of senior positions with the group in Canada and the U.K. Dino Bianco brings more than 25 years of financial, sales and marketing, and senior management experience with Kraft.
 
Körmendi Named New CEO of Elopak
Thomas Körmendi will join the company on April 1, 2018.
 
Pilli-Sihvola Appointed CFO of Metsä Tissue
Juhu Pilli-Sihvola is in charge of Metsä Tissue’s finance and control organization as well as ICT matters.
 
Pixton Appointed Kemira’s New CTO
Dr. Matthew R. Pixton has extensive experience in the specialty chemical and polymer industries with global and regional leadership roles in R&D and product and process development as well as technology.
 
Sohlström Named President, CEO of Ahlstrom-Munksjö
Company’s board of directors this past week appointed Hans Sohlström president and CEO of Ahlstrom-Munksjö, effective June 30, 2018, at the latest. Sohlström is currently the president and CEO of Ahlström Capital Group.
 
TAPPI News
IN MEMORIAM: Dr. H.S. "Doug" Dugal
Doug had been a member of TAPPI for 40-plus years. During his affiliation with TAPPI, he was made a TAPPI Fellow and was presented other awards including TAPPI Environmental Division Award, Roy F. Weston Prize, and the Outstanding Local Section Member Award. In April 2014, Doug was presented the TAPPI Herman L Joachim Distinguished Service Award.
 
Got Corrugated Questions? We’ve Got Answers.
Led by corrugated industry-experts, the Best Practices on the Corrugator course will teach you how to achieve higher productivity, produce better product quality, and reduce waste and downtime.
 
TAPPI Industry Career Center: ABB seeks Process Control Engineer
ABB Pulp and Paper is seeking a Process Control Engineer for its Westerville, Ohio, USA, location.
 
Gain Powerful Pulp and Paper Technology Knowledge
Less than one week remains to register for the Introduction to Pulp and Paper Technology course. Don’t miss your opportunity to gain the most comprehensive overview of papermaking and pulping.
 
Ring in the New Year Right with Technological Insights
TAPPI Nano 2018 Conference has the audience you need to showcase your company’s commitment to renewable materials and nanotechnology.
 
Position Yourself for Success
Submit your resume by January 9 to interview with hiring companies at the 2018 Student Summit.