EURO-GRAPH Reports Coated & SC Ships

EURO-GRAPH reported October European coated mechanical paper shipments rose +0.1%, demand increased +0.1% and exports declined -0.1%, Coated woodfree shipments was up +6%, demand rose +3.2% and exports jumped +20.6%. Supercalendered paper shipments fell -0.9%, demand rose +3.3% and exports declined -17.5%.

NS Legislation to Reduce Port Hawk Taxes

Nova Scotia legislation would reduce Cape Breton mill's municipal tax bill:
An agreement between Richmond County and a paper mill in Port Hawkesbury to reduce the operation's municipal taxes is being written into law by the Nova Scotia government.

Municipal Relations Minister John MacDonell says amendments to the Stora Enso Taxation Act would see taxes paid by the mill remain at $2.6 million for 2012-13, with former owner NewPage and Port Hawkesbury Paper Group Ltd. each paying $1.3 million.

MacDonell says Port Hawkesbury Paper would then pay $1.3 million in taxes for three years, beginning on April 1.

The legislation which was tabled at the request of the municipality, would expire on March 31, 2016.

The tax deal was reached following a court battle between the mill's owner and the municipality.

In a ruling in September, a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge rejected a bid by the mill to cancel the previous tax deal.

Sappi Increases NBHK Price

Sappi Fine Paper North America informed domestic customers today that its northern bleached hardwood kraft (NBHK) market pulp prices would increase $20/tonne, effective December 1 until further notice.

Sappi's $20/tonne price increase would bring North American list price on NBHK to $755-765/tonne depending on grade.

Arjowiggins Raises European CWF Prices

The situation of continuing rising costs of raw materials, energy and transport has made it necessary for Arjowiggins Graphic to review current price levels, and following this review implement a price increase to help offset the rising costs being incurred.

As a consequence of these adverse conditions that we are facing, we regret that it is unavoidable to announce this price increase for our CWF paper range on both sheets and reels during January 2013.

Fire at FutureMark Mill Contained

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=831505#.ULjtvoXZGKw

The Manistique Public Safety and Volunteer Fire Officers were called to a reported fire at the FutureMark Paper Mill, formerly known as Manistique Papers, Thursday evening at 8:14.

Employees reported that the fire was located in a storage pile of paper bales located outside, adjacent to the building near a clippings shed.

China Single Largest User Illegal Lumber

http://www.eia-international.org/china-worlds-top-buyer-of-illegal-timber-drives-deforestation

China, emergent superpower and the world’s second biggest economy, is effectively standing on the sidelines as its exponential growth devastates forests in a trade worth billions of dollars a year.

In the new report Appetite for Destruction: China’s Trade in Illegal Timber, launched today in Beijing, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals that China is now the single largest international consumer of illegal timber, importing wood stolen by organised criminal syndicates on a massive scale.

Brown Printing Signs Deal with National Standard

http://www.bpc.com/

Brown Printing has signed a multi-year agreement to print and distribute The Weekly Standard.

Under the agreement, starting in December 2012, Brown will produce The Standard at its East Greenville facility and distribute the magazine using local and regional entry into the USPS system as well as airfreight to western states, thus enabling faster delivery. The Weekly Standard has subscribers in every state and a paid circulation of approximately 95,000.

Bonnier Shutters Caribbean Travel + Life

Bonnier Shutters Caribbean Travel + Life Magazine and Related TV Show:
Bonnier Corporation’s Caribbean Travel + Life magazine will cease publication beginning next year. Additionally, its Discovery Channel television program will not be revived.

Digital Magazine Readership Up 47%

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/digital-only-magazine-readership-nearly-50-percent-145490

Magazines’ newsstand sales may be struggling, but there’s a bright spot when it comes to digital readership. Today, GfK MRI released its fall 2012 Survey of the American Consumer, which tracks print and digital magazine readership, and found that magazine readership had increased by 1.6 percent (or nearly 20 million people) to 1.2 billion people since last spring. That was helped by a significant bump in digital consumption: Readership of magazines' digital editions jumped 47 percent, or 4.4 million people, to more than 13.5 million.

Q3 Out-of-Home Ads Up 4.4%

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/188246/outdoor-revenues-up-44-benefits-from-digital-oo.html#axzz2DjBuwRms

Out-of-home advertising revenues grew 4.4% to over $1.5 billion in the third quarter, up from around $1.4 billion in the same period of 2011, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.
Overall, the media and advertising category increased 6% in the third quarter compared to 2011. The period also saw ample political ad spending, with the government, politics, and organizations segment up 14% compared to the same period in 2011.

The Economist Unbundles Tablet From Print

http://adage.com/article/media/economist-unbundles-tablet-editions-print-subs/238566/

Time Inc. gives its print subscribers access to tablet and smartphone apps under a strategy it calls "All Access" -- designed in part to shore up print. But it gave up on an attempt to use that more robust package to underpin a price hike at Sports Illustrated from $39 to $48. Rival publishers such as Hearst and Conde Nast, meanwhile, have resolutely sold app subscriptions separately, figuring they're leaving money on the table otherwise.
Now an important independent magazine is leaving the "All Access" camp: The Economist last month stopped bundling app access with all new print subscriptions, charging more to newcomers who want both and introducing a print option that comes without apps.

Latin American Printing Forecast to Grow 4% in 2012

http://whattheythink.com/ 
A study produced by the Graphics of the Americas Expo & Conference (GOA) forecasts a positive state for the print industry in Latin America, a core GOA audience, in 2013.

Produced annually by the Printing Association of Florida, and now in its 38th year, GOA is held February 21-23, 2013, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

Based on statistics reported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the study reveals that the Latin America printing industry remained positive for most of the last decade, with a projected growth of 4% in 2013. The projected GDP in 2013 for Latin America and the Caribbean is 3.9%.