Sappi CWF Machine Down

Since a fire last week, production on Sappi's one machine at its Nijmegen, Netherlands mill, PM 7, which has a capacity of 240,000 tonne/yr of coated woodfree, has been suspended. The fire began in some cabling on the outside of the factory building shortly before 8 PM on July 4. Reparation work is ongoing, but no date has been set for restarting the machine.

Steep Drop in Newsprint Continues

Steep drop in newsprint continues: Steep demand declines in North America and Western Europe, as well as a slowdown in growth from Asia and the introduction of new machines in developing markets, will necessitate the removal of 3.5 million to 4.4 million tonnes of newsprint capacity around the world over the next several years, according to RISI's just-released Global Newsprint Risk of Closure study.

USPS Offers Picture Permit

USPS Picture Permit program now open: The U.S. Postal Service has opened online registration for its Picture Permit option, allowing commercial mailers to include logos, trademarks, brand images and other kinds of marketing designs in the postage information area on mail pieces.

Wicks Group Buys Northstar

Northstar Travel Media Acquired by Wicks Group:  Northstar Travel Media, a leading business-information company serving the travel and meetings industries, has been acquired by the Wicks Group, making it one of the very few successful transactions in traditional b-to-b media in the last several years.

Valassis; 90% of Grocery Retailers Use Circulars

Valasssis Survey Reveals Supermarket Media Preferences:Valassis shared the results of a study indicating that 90 percent of grocery retailers still use weekly circulars as their promotion of choice.

NAPL Webinar: Historic Opportunity in Print

http://www.piworld.com/article/napl-offer-free-webinar-historic-opportunity-printing-industry/1

The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) invites industry professionals to attend a free educational webinar, titled “Historic Opportunity Awaits the Printing Industry.” It will be led by NAPL President and CEO Joseph P. Truncale, Ph.D., and Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Andrew Paparozzi.

"Self" Introduces New Site

http://www.adweek.com/print/141680

Self  magazine has adopted a new tagline, I Curate My Life. Now, it’s extending that idea to a forthcoming standalone site, Selfcurateyourlook.

The site, which Self is calling a “virtual trunk show,” rolls out in September, the kickoff to the fall fashion season. It will present Selfstaff-selected products and a rotating series of advertisers’ products in sleek, catalogue-style displays.

Magazines Embrace Adding Digital

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/177764/second-screening-print-magazines-embrace-app-comp.html?print

The magazine industry recently emerged from a decade-long period of denial about digital media.

As circulation seizes up and declines and advertisers seem shaky at best about the role of print in their marketing mix, suddenly the periodical industry is all-in for digital, especially apps. Many have used the term “digital do-over” to describe the opportunity to catch the app/tablet/mobile wave that most of them boggled online. And so we are getting a range of magazine editions of the print product as well as new units at companies like Rodale and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia that are churning out lines of apps.

Heidelberg Expands in Asian Market

Heidelberg Successfully Expands Its Business in the Asian Pacific Market: Printers in emerging countries increasingly invest in technology made by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg). In paricular, the market for packaging printing is growing.

Media & Marketing M&A Up

Report: Media and marketing M&A activity increases: Merger and acquisition deals in the media and marketing space totaled 834 in the first half, an increase of 6% over the second half of 2011, according to data released by investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co. In the same time frame, aggregate deal value increased 27%, to $31.51 billion.