EURO-GRAPH Reports March Paper Shipments

EURO-GRAPH reported March shipments of coated mechanical paper fell -11.8%, demand was down -11.6% and exports decreased -12.7%. Coated woodfree shipments declined -9.9% in the month, demand fell -10% and exports decreased -11.2%. Uncoated woodfree shipments were down -10.6%, demand declined -8.4% and exports fell -19%. Supercalendered paper shipments decreased -12.6%, demand was down -9.3% and exports declined -28.5%.

Port Hawkesbury Announces SC Price Increase

Port Hawkesbury Paper has announced a Supercalendered paper price increase, effective on all new and existing orders with confirmed ship dates of July 1 or later.  All basis weights and finishes of the following brands will increase $2.50/cwt:

Artisan®, Prominence Plus® and Prominence®

The price for the following brand will increase $3.00/cwt:

Maritime®

Resolute Prices $600 Million Senior Notes Offering

http://www.resolutefp.com/en/?langtype=4105

Resolute Forest Products Inc. today announced that it priced the offering of $600 million aggregate principal amount of its senior notes due 2023 (the "2023 notes") at 5.875% and 99.062% of par value.
The notes will be unsecured and guaranteed by substantially all of Resolute's U.S. subsidiaries.

The offering of the 2023 notes is expected to close on May 8 , subject to customary closing conditions, with net proceeds used to repurchase, repay or otherwise discharge all, or substantially all, of its $501.2 million outstanding aggregate principal amount 10.25% senior secured notes due 2018 (the "2018 notes"). The Company is currently conducting a tender offer for the 2018 notes, which offer is scheduled to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on May 21, 2013 , unless extended by the Company.

Resolute's Thunder Bay Faces Challenges

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/275972/Resolute-CEO-sees-future-for-Thunder-Bay-mill,-but-must-become-more-competitive

The president of Resolute Forest Products says he thinks the company's Thunder Bay mill has a future in the pulp and paper business.

But, added Richard Garneau, it won't come easy.
Facing a 10 per cent decline in demand over the first quarter of 2013 compared to a year ago,

Garneau said the company had no choice but to temporarily shut down the plant this month, correcting a potential oversupply had the decision not been made. More than 100 people were affected.

Canadian Rail Car Shortage Affects Industry

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2013/04/26/nb-lumber-rail-shortage.html

Frustration is growing among saw mill and pulp mill owners as a Canadian National rail car shortage is forcing companies to find alternate ways to ship lumber products.

Just as the lumber industry in the province begins to bounce-back due to a more stable homebuilding sector in the U.S., several northern New Brunswick mills have been forced to pay thousands of extra dollars every week to ship lumber to the U.S. by truck due to a shortage in CN rail cars.

Capital Hill's Internal Argument on Online Sales Tax

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/us/politics/bill-on-sales-tax-for-internet-purchases-divides-republicans.html?hp&_r=0

Legislation that would force Internet retailers to collect sales taxes from their customers has put antitax and small-government activists like Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform and the Heritage Foundation in an unusual position: they’re losing.

For years, conservative Republican lawmakers have been influenced heavily by the antitax activists in Washington, who have dictated outcomes and become the arbiters of what is and is not a tax increase.
But on the question of Internet taxation, their voices have begun to be drowned out by the pleas of struggling retailers back home who complain that their online competitors enjoy an unfair price advantage.

Men's Fitness Rebranded

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/mens-fitness-magazine-remade-lifestyle-brand-148947

Two years ago, Men's Fitness put Vin Diesel on its cover, wearing a red, body-hugging T-shirt and surrounded by coverlines that screamed "Instant muscle" and "53 fat-burning tips." Vin is back for the June issue, and while he’s still showing off his biceps, this time he’s sporting John Varvatos and Banana Republic.

Sitting at a long conference table in the offices of American Media Inc., chairman David Pecker placed the 2011 issue alongside the new one to underscore the point: Men's Fitness, long the province of workout tips and Gatorade ads, is going in an upscale lifestyle direction to compete with the likes of Men’s Health, Details and GQ.

ESPN Magazine: Print Spin on Sponsored Content

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/espn-magazine-puts-print-spin-sponsored-content-148990

Branded content has gotten plenty of attention as it's taken off online where the division between editorial and advertising real estate can be fuzzier (see: Forbes, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed, Gawker), but publishers have shied away from using similar strategies in print. Now, ESPN: The Magazine is taking a page from electronic media by letting an advertiser incorporate its logo into editorial content.

Financial Times Subscritptions Up, Ad Revenue Down

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/financial-times-faces-weak-ad-market-148939

Another struggle for 125-year-old Pearson publicationThe Financial Times is facing a weak advertising market, despite subscription gains, The Guardian reported. Parent company Pearson said it's because a number of large ad campaigns are planned for the second quarter, whereas last year they ran in the first quarter.

Despite the blow to ad revenue, Financial Times digital subscriptions increased by 4 percent in the first quarter, to 328,000. The business news publication has a global paid and digital circulation of 602,000.
Still, along with others in the industry, print ad revenue has been challenged in recent months and digital advertising has been slow to make up for it. There's growing competition for the global business reader, from the likes of The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Bloomberg LP. In February, there were rumors that the 125-year-old paper would be sold.

RH Mails Spring 2013 Catalog

http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2013/04/restoration_hardware_catalogs.html

The Spring 2013 Restoration Hardware catalog has arrived and this is notable for just a few reasons.

It is not one catalog, it is six. 
And it appears Restoration Hardware is rebranding itself RH, or so each catalog is labeled.
At a total of 1,598 pages, the six books cover: Small Spaces; Objects of Curiosity; Tableware; Baby & Child; Outdoor & Garden; and Interiors – the biggest in the collection. 
They are beautifully photographed, as you might imagine, evoking a sense of world travels and the well-worn comfort of Gucci loafers.
 It's an interesting approach, a traditional printed catalog, at a time when even a full 140 character tweet seems too long.

Pearson Reports Q1 Results

http://www.pearson.com/news/2013/april/agm-and-interim-management-statement.html

Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, is today holding its Annual General Meeting and providing an interim management statement for the first three months of 2013.

Pearson is trading in line with the expectations set out in our full-year results announcement on 25 February (http://bit.ly/ZkoXqf). In the first three months of the year, sales including Penguin increased by 3% at constant exchange rates to £1.2bn (a headline increase of 4% and an underlying decline of 1%).

ABM Merger with SIIA Approved

ABM Merger with SIIA Officially Approved 83-3:
At ABM's 2013 Annual Conference here in Amelia Island, FL today, membership cast their vote as the final step to approve the merger between ABM and SIIA. The vote came in at 83 for, 3 against, but not without a bit of drama.

Global Ad Spend Continues Uptick

Global Ad Spend Continues Uptick; Internet to Overtake Print in 2015: ZenithOptimedia predicts global ad spend to strengthen over the next three years.
http://adage.com/article/agency-news/zenithoptimedia-forecasts-global-ad-spending-jump-3-9/241142/
Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia predicts global advertising expenditures will grow 3.9% in 2013, reaching $518 billion by the end of the year. ZenithOptimedia's forecast shows an upward trend for ad investments in the Middle East and North Africa—a first for the region since the Arab Spring in 2011. It also calls for spending surges in rising markets like Latin America.   Mature markets, including North America, Japan and Western Europe, are on track for spending growth of just 1.8% in 2013. Spending in rising markets -- every other region -- should rise 8.2%. Despite low expectations for mature markets, the U.S. should continue to serve as the biggest contributor of new ad dollars to the global market. The agency expects the region to contribute 28% of the $76 billion that will be added to global spending between 2012 and 2015.