Another Step in Post Hawkesbury Mill Process

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/81891--tentative-energy-deal-reached-for-idled-paper-mill-in-cape-breton

The Vancouver-based company planning to buy the idle NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill in Cape Breton has reached a tentative energy agreement with the province's electric utility company, a key step in its bid to get the mill operating again.

Pacific West Commercial Corp. announced late Friday it had submitted the seven-year agreement for approval to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.

Q1 Chinese Pulp & RCP Imports Up

China's total pulp imports went up 27.3% in March compared to the same month last year, according to data from China Custom. For the first quarter, pulp imports rose 15.4%. BSK imports increased 29% for the month and 17% for the quarter.

Chinese recovered paper imports were up 12.7% in March compared to the same month in 2011 and 10.1% in Q1 2012/Q1 2011.

Mercer Withdraws Fibrek Offer

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/mercer-abandons-battle-for-fibrek/article2417768/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2417768

Fibrek Inc. confirmed today that Mercer International Inc. has announced that it has unilaterally terminated its support agreement with Fibrek with respect to its offer to acquire all of the common shares of Fibrek.

U.S. Ad Spending Forecast Up 4.1%

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120430/ADVERTISING14/304309993/warc-says-u-s-ad-spending-to-increase-4-1-this-year Warc says U.S. ad spending to increase 4.1% this year

U.S. ad spending will increase 4.1% this year over last year, according to marketing intelligence company Warc.

Next year, U.S. ad spending will slow to 3.3% growth, “when there will be no quadrennial boost from the presidential elections and the Olympics,” Warc said in a statement.

First CMR Released by Magazine

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120430/MEDIABUSINESS16/304309988/the-economist-is-first-weekly-to-release-consolidated-media-report

The Economist is the first weekly magazine to release a Consolidated Media Report from the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The CMR is designed to verify a media brand's reach on separate platforms.

House & Senate Postal Bills Differ

Postal Service Bill Faces Roadblocks: It’s looking increasingly unlikely that the House and Senate will agree on a plan to save the Postal Service by May 15, when a moratorium on closing postal processing plants expires.

Q1 European Coated Demand Down, SC Up

http://euro-graph.antidot.be/who_we_are-7283.html

EURO-GRAPH has reported that European demand for coated mechanical paper in the first quarter fell -4.6% s compared to the same period last year. Exports jumped 14.6%. Coated woodfree demand declined -3.1% for Q1 and exports decreased -8.1%. Supercalendered paper demand rose 8.4%. SC exports fell -11%.

IP Reports Q1 Results

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/04_27_2012international_paper_earnings.html

International Paper today reported first-quarter 2012 net earnings attributable to common shareholders totaling $188 million compared with net earnings of $281 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 and $354 million ($0.81 per share) in the first quarter of 2011.

Katahdin's Millinocket to be Industrial Park

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/approved/0001/11/30/cate-street-plans-industrial-park-millinocket-pape/1186902

Cate Street Capital, buyer of the two Katahdin region paper mills in September announced plans Wednesday to turn the Millinocket site into an industrial park.

Catalyst Paper Delays Meeting with Creditors

Catalyst Paper adjusts date for meeting of its creditors:
Catalyst Paper has announced that the date for the meetings of its secured and unsecured creditors to consider the plan of arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act has been changed from May 2, 2012 to May 15, 2012.

min Tracked Ad Pages Down 5.8%

http://www.minonline.com/news/20371.html

Of the 150 mags we track at min, 62 showed gains in May (27 of which were up by double-digit percentages) and 88 plummeted.  Cumulative 2012-versus-2011 differentials were -5.90% (May) and -5.81% (year-to-date).

 

Hearst Launches Cosmopolitan for Latinas

http://www.pubexec.com/article/hearst-magazines-introduces-cosmopolitan-latinas/1

Hearst Magazines, one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, today announced that the first stand-alone issue of Cosmopolitan for Latinas, a new women's lifestyle publication targeted at English-speaking Latinas, will hit newsstands nationwide on May 1.

GDP Grows 2.2% in Q1

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577369640809969900.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Real gross domestic product -- the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012.

Valassis Announces Q1 Results

Valassis Announces Q1 Results: Revenues Decreased by 5.2%: Valassis today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012. First-quarter 2012 revenues were $518.6 million, a decrease of 5.2% from $547.0 million in the prior year quarter.

UPM Q1 Sales Up 10%

http://www.upm.com/EN/MEDIA/All-news/Pages/default.aspx

Sales for Q1 2012 were EUR 2,591 million, 10% higher than the EUR 2,356 million in Q1 2011. Sales increased due to the Myllykoski acquisition in Paper in August 2011, as well as higher delivery volumes in other UPM businesses.

Second Uncoated Mill Announces Increase

Leading North American uncoated freesheet paper producer Domtar informed customers it will raise prices on all white business papers by $2/cwt ($40/ton) effective May 29.

Domtar Reports Q1 Net Earnings

Domtar reports net earnings of $28 million in first quarter, 2012:
Domtar Corp. is reporting net earnings of $28 million in their first quarter of 2012, compared to net earnings of $61 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Sales for the first quarter of 2012 amounted to $1.4 billion.

Graphic Packaging Reports Q1 Earnings

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=103159&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1687718&highlight=
Graphic Packaging Holding Company,  a leading provider of packaging solutions to food, beverage and other consumer products companies, today reported Net Income for first quarter 2012 of $17.2 million. This compares to first quarter 2011 Net Income of $26.7 million.

Senate Passes Postal Reform Bill

U.S. Senate passes Postal Service reform bill: The U.S. Senate Wednesday passed a bill intended to relieve financial pressures on the U.S. Postal Service while retaining as many services as possible. The House of Representatives is considering its own version of the bill.

New Page Won't Build Bio-Refinery

New Page drops plans for bio-refinery in Wi...:
Four years ago, the U.S. Energy Department awarded a $30 million grant for the bio-refinery. The project was originally sought by Stora Enso, a previous owner of the Wisconsin Rapids mill.

IP Closing 4 Temple-Inland Plants

International Paper closing four plants as result of Temple-Inland merger:
International Paper Co. is shutting down four plants across the country in the next two months and eliminating a total of 215 jobs.

IP Announces Uncoated Paper Increase

http://www.internationalpaper.com/

International Paper announced to customers a $2/cwt or 3-4% price increase on uncoated freesheet imaging papers effective May 21, 2012.

Another Coated Increase

FutureMark has announced a $2.00/cwt increase on its coated mechanical paper, effective July 1.

Verso Announces Exchange Offer

http://www.versopaper.com/ Verso Paper Corp. announced today that two of its wholly owned subsidiaries, Verso Paper Holdings LLC and Verso Paper Inc. (together, the "Issuers"), have launched an exchange offer and consent solicitation for their outstanding 11⅜% senior subordinated notes due 2016 (the "Old Subordinated Notes"). In addition, the Issuers have amended certain terms of the existing exchange offer and consent solicitation for their second priority senior secured floating rate notes due 2014 (the "Old Secured Floating Rate Notes").

NBSK Downtime Reported

Two major North American market pulp producers, Resolute Forest Products and Domtar, have annual maintenance closures at their northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) mills in Ontario this month that will trim 29,000 tonnes of output.

Nippon Relocating Headquarters

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/04_25_2012nippon_paper_group.html

Nippon Paper Group, Inc. said that it has decided to relocate its headquarters and the headquarters of major Group companies. In addition, the company today decided to review its existing holding company system, and transform its business structure using the Group’s comprehensive strength.

DS Smith Buying SCA Packaging, France

SCA has accepted DS Smith´s offer to acquire its packaging operations
SCA has accepted DS Smith´s formal offer to acquire the packaging operations in France following consultations with appropriate works councils.  The agreed purchase price amounts to EUR 1.7bn on a debt free basis.

Meredith Reports FY Q3 Results

Meredith's National Media Group Profits Down: Meredith Corporation released its fiscal third quarter results today and the overall picture is a mixed one for its National Media Group. Revenues were flat at $268 million compared with the same period the previous year, but profits were down 23% to $37 million.

Forrester: B2B to Grow 6.8%

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20120425/STRATEGY06/304259996/forrester-says-b-to-b-marketers-will-increase-budgets-6-8-this-year

B2b marketers will increase their marketing budgets by an average of 6.8% this year, according to a report from Forrester Research.

Resolute/Fibrek Fight Continues

The Fibrek Inc. Board of Directors continues to recommend that shareholders TENDER to the superior $1.40 offer made by Mercer International Inc., which will be open for acceptance until 11:59 on April 27, 2012. As of April 11, almost 25% of Fibrek shares had already been tendered to Mercer's superior offer, representing approximately half of Fibrek's minority shareholders.

 Separately, it was reported that AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business as Resolute Forest Products, today announced that it has taken up and accepted for payment 2,664,351 additional shares of Fibrek Inc... Resolute holds approximately 48.8% of the currently outstanding Fibrek shares.

Brazil Sets Duties on LWC

Brazilian authorities today confirmed anti-dumping duties against lightweight coated (LWC) with basis weights of 50-72 g/m² imported from the USA, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Canada and Germany. The request was made by Brazil's sole local LWC producer Stora Enso.The U.S. imports very little coated mechanical to Brazil.

Google Closes Subsciption Model

http://www.foliomag.com/2012/google-folds-paid-content-service-one-pass

After only a year and some change, Google folded its paid content platform One Pass. According to reports, Google made the decision public on its blog.

One Pass launched in early 2011, shortly after Apple announced its subscription model. The service appeared to be another option for publishers who did not want to play by Apple’s subscription rules.

Stora Enso Reports Q1 Results

Stora Enso profit falls on pricing pressure:
Finnish paper company Stora Enso reported a 43% fall in quarterly core operating profit due to pricing pressure and weaker demand for its graphic paper.
Europe's largest papermaker reported a core operating profit of 147 million euros ($193 million), down from last year's 258 million but above the market's average forecast of 139 million.

Study Shows Consumers Value Mail

Consumers Value Physical Mail, Even In This Digital Era: A survey conducted by Nielsen confirms consumers value physical mail, even in this digital era, and that marketing messages delivered via envelope get openend.

Print & Packaging May Be Recovering

Print and packaging sector 'showing early signs of recovery':
In the print and packaging sector the number of firms in difficulty fell by a massive 73% in the first quarter of 2012 compared to an overall drop of 17% across all sectors.
All other manufacturing businesses saw distress levels fall by 49%.

PPPC Reports SC Ships

The Pulp & Paper Products Council reported that North American SC-A/A+ paper shipments fell -23.2% in March, as compared to the previous month and -19.9% for the first quarter. Demand declined -23.4% for the month and -21.1% for Q1. Imports decreased -24.8% in March and -27.2% for the quarter. The operating rate for all Supercalendered paper was 98% in March.

Resolute Raises Coated Prices

Resolute Forest Products will raise its Coated paper prices by $40 US/CAD per short ton, effective July 1.

AF&PA Reports March P&W Ships

Paper shipments in the US down 11% 
According to the American Forest & Paper Association's March 2012 Printing-Writing Paper Report, total printing-writing paper shipments decreased 11% in March compared to March 2011.

Standard Register Reports Q1 Results

Standard Register Reports 1Q Revenue of $157.6 Million: Standard Register today announced its financial results for the first quarter 2012. The Company reported revenue of $157.6 million and a net loss of $5.1 million.

Heidelberg Reports Q4 FY 2011 Results

Heidelberg Reports Higher Sales, Kodak Situation Impacts Operating Results: Based on preliminary calculations, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen achieved an increase in sales in the fourth quarter of financial year 2011/2012 (January 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012) compared to the previous year - from EUR 745 million to around EUR 780 million, thus reaching the highest quarterly sales figure for the last three years.

Postal Reform Debated

How Some Senators Would Fix the Postal Service: Senators spent most of the week debating a measure to overhaul the Postal Service by giving it $11 billion to offer buyouts to hundreds of thousands of employees, to eventually end six-day mail delivery and to possibly end delivery of mail to door-side mailboxes in favor of more centralized locations.

Mobile Ads Forecast at $11.6 Bil

Mobile ad revenue to reach $11.6 billion this year: Boston—Mobile ad revenue will reach an estimated $11.6 billion this year, up 85.4% over last year, according to a forecast from research and consulting company Strategy Analytics.

Google to Offer Ad Analytics

Google to introduce ad analytics features: Google Inc. is introducing new advertising features, to be made available this spring, that facilitate the tracking of display ad views and the level of engagement users have with those ads.

March Coated Paper Shipments Down

The Pulp & Paper Products Council reported that North American coated paper shipments fell -15.7% in March as compared to the same month last year. For Q1, shipments were down -6.1%. Demand declined -15.8% for the month and -8.3% for the quarter. Imports fell -19% and -11.7%. Coated woodfree shipments decreased -10.9% for the month and -4.9% for Q1. Demand declined -15.0% in March and -10% for the quarter. Imports fell -29.4% and -24.3%.

Verso Names CEO

http://www.paperage.com/2012news/04_20_2012mike_jackson_verso_paper.html

Verso Paper Corp.announced that Michael A. Jackson will retire as the President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of Verso and that David J. Paterson has been elected by Verso’s board of directors to serve in such roles, with both events to occur effective as of May 14, 2012.

Smart Papers Auctions Equipment

http://www.journal-news.com/news/hamilton-news/smart-papers-auction-draws-hundreds-1362128.html

About 300 people spent the day Wednesday bidding both in person and online on various tools, equipment and machinery at the now-closed SMART Papers cfs mill in Hamilton, Ohio.

Formerly Champion Paper, the plant ceased manufacturing operations in February.

Catalyst Credit Protection Extended

Catalyst Paper gets extension to its creditor protection period:
The Supreme Court of British Columbia has extended Catalyst Paper‘s protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act to June 30, 2012.

Grays Harbor May Restart

http://thedailyworld.com/sections/news/local/gh-paper-mill-sale-expected-within-10-days.html

An agreement to sell and re-open the shuttered Grays Harbor Paper mill may close within 10 days according to an optimistic announcement to business leaders this morning.

The 150M tpy ufs mill closed in May 2011, laying off about 240 employees. The facility was quickly placed into receivership with Renton-based Pivotal Solutions, which has worked with owners and creditors to coordinate a sale of the property.