Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Court Extends Credit Protection to NP Port Hawkesbury

NewPage Port Hawkesbury granted extension to creditor protection period:
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has granted NewPage Port Hawkesbury another extension to their creditor protection period.
The mill now has until August 31, 2012 to wrap up the sale and transfer of the mill’s assets to Pacific West Commercial Corp.

Resolute Dispute with Algonquin Nation Threatens Logging

Resolute Forest Products logging under heavy police presence at Barriere Lake:
Montreal riot police have been sent 5 hours north of Montreal to the area where the Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake are protesting Resolute Forest Products‘ logging activity.
For the past 2 weeks, members of the Algonquin First Nations of Barriere Lake have been camping out along the roadside at Poigan Lake where the logging is occurring. Today, members of the Algonquin community are moving their protest camp site closer to logging operations to prevent further cutting.
The police are escorting the loggers to their job site and have threatened to arrest members of the Barrier Lake community if they interfere. The Algonquin First Nations of Barriere Lake insist the Quebec government has granted a harvesting license to Resolute Forest Products without the Algonquin community’s consent or consultation, and in violation of the Trilateral Agreement the Quebec government signed with Barriere Lake in 1991.

Quebec Releases Forest Sector Plan

Quebec releases new 2012-2017 Forest Sector Transformation Strategy:
Quebec‘s new 2012-2017 Forest Sector Transformation Strategy was unveiled Monday by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF).
The Strategy aims to adapt and strengthen the province’s forest sector by diversification, innovation, and adaptation.  The Strategy recognizes that markets are changing at a rapid pace and Quebec’s forest industry is at a race against time to compete against competitors that adapt quickly to new realities.
Over the 2012-2017 timespan, the Government of Quebec has earmarked $268 million to implement the Strategy.
The full version of the 2012-2017 Strategy to transform the forest products industry in Quebec is available at the following address: www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/fr/forets/strategie-2012-2017 (French only).

PaperlinX Selling Some Assets, CEO Steps Down


PaperlinX CEO Toby Marchant is leaving the company. In addition, the firm announced it has entered into the following agreements:
  • to sell its operations in Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia to the Heinzel Group for €19.6m. The sale price represents a multiple of approximately 10x EBITDA and is A$2m above book value. Net proceeds after debt and transaction costs are expected to be approximately €17.5m (A$21m);
  • to sell its loss-making operations in South Africa to local management. Net proceeds of ZAR50m (A$6m) will include A$3m repayment of parent company funding and A$3m purchase consideration for the shares, representing a loss of approximately A$2m against book value.

Metsä Board Increases Woodfree Prices

Metsä Board will increase the price for all woodfree uncoated paper products by 6-8% across all European markets. The new prices will take effect from September 2012.
Paper manufacturers are seeing their margins erode further as the cost of raw materials continues to rise. Whilst these inflationary pressures persist the industry is struggling to deal with ever decreasing margins.

OpenGate Sells 10% of Finish Mill to Powerflute

OpenGate Capital LLC Sells a Share of Kotkamills Oy to Powerflute Oyj:
OpenGate Capital, a private investment and acquisition company, and the owner of Kotkamills Oy, announced today that it has sold a minority share (10%) of Kotkamills Oy to Powerflute Oyj. Powerflute is a forest products industry company operating a paper mill in Finland.

May Retail Sales Fall

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/aggregatedcontent/retail-purchases-us-unexpectedly-decrease-05
Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell for a third month in June as limited employment gains took a toll on consumers. The 0.5 percent drop followed a 0.2 percent decrease in May, Commerce Department figures showed. The decline exceeded the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that called for a median 0.2 percent gain in sales. Other reports today showed manufacturing in the New York region picked up this month and U.S. inventories increased in May.

Two Sides New Campaign

Paper Love (Going Green):
Across the pond, our friends at Two Sides UK have recently launched a new campaigntargeted at consumers that promotes “attractiveness and sustainability of print media.” The “No Wonder You Love Paper” campaign is jointly undertaken by Two Sides and UK magazine and newspaper publishers, and includes the new Web sitehttp://www.youlovepaper.info/UK.

Transcontinental Sells Book Printing Assets

Transcontinental sells its book printing assets: After reviewing its business plan and long-term strategic objectives, Transcontinental Inc. today announced that it is selling its book printing assets, namely Transcontinental Gagné printing plant in Louiseville and Transcontinental Métrolitho printing plant in Sherbrooke, to Marquis Book Printing Inc., in Cap-Saint-Ignace, which specializes in book printing.