Monday, August 12, 2013

Metso Supplies Norske PM Conversion Newsprint to LWC

http://metso.com/news/newsdocuments.nsf/web3newsdoc/9DA7C0209EABF30FC2257AD7003944B4?OpenDocument&ch=ChMetsoWebEng#.Ugkyg7yYyKw
Metso will supply Norske Skog with a grade conversion rebuild from newsprint to lightweight coated (LWC) grades of their PM 2 machine at their Boyer mill in Tasmania, Australia. The rebuilt production line will be fully operational after several phases of rebuild during the first quarter of 2014. The value of the order will not be disclosed.
The main target of the rebuild is to convert the newsprint machine into a competitive lightweight coated paper (LWC) production line. The delivery also includes a cooperation agreement aimed at achieving key objectives of the conversion.
The future capacity of the PM 2 machine after the rebuild will be 140,000 tonnes per year of lightweight coated grades. 

H1 Paper Exports Fall -3%, Imports Up 4.8%

http://www.afandpa.org/
US total exports of pulp, paper and paperboard through June are down 3% from 2012 at 20.51 million tonnes, according to Census Bureau annualized data summarized by the American Forest & Paper Assn.
Imports of 8.9 million tonnes are 4.8% higher through six months.
The total US pulp and paper trade balance in the period stands at 11.6 million tonnes, but when excluding the large and relatively low-value recovered paper trade, the US surplus narrows to 2.5 million tonnes. The US exported 9.6 million tonnes of recovered paper through June, down 4.5% from 2012.
The US paper industry has seen a rare trade surplus running for four years due to a growth trend in recovered paper and packaging exports and a contraction in graphic paper imports. Those trends are generally absent in 2013 so far.

Glatfelter Names VP, GM Specialty Papers

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/08_12_2013glatfelter_brian_janki.html
Glatfelter today announced the hiring of Brian E. Janki as Vice President & General Manager of its Specialty Papers Business Unit (SPBU), effective August 14, 2013. Mr. Janki will have overall P&L responsibility for SPBU and will lead the development and implementation of strategies and tactical plans for this business unit.
Janki has diverse leadership experiences which include assignments in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and North America. He comes to Glatfelter having most recently served as Vice President & General Manager, Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services for Greif. Mr. Janki worked for Greif for twelve years in a variety of progressive leadership assignments including P&L leadership of two business units, global responsibility for supply chain & sourcing, and transformational assignments including global oversight of the implementation of the Greif Business System.

Global Paper & Pulp Industry 2103 Report

http://news.paperindex.com/RecentDeals/The_Global_Paper_and_Pulp_Mills_Industry_Market_Research_Report_from_IBISWorld_Has_Been_Updated/
The Global Paper and Pulp Mills industry generates significant business around the world, generating $563.6 billion in revenue during 2013. Over the past five years, revenue from the Global Pulp and Paper industry is expected to increase at an average annual rate of 0.4%, driven by strong performance in paperboard packaging and tissue products. During the global economic downturn in 2009, however, industry revenue dropped a sharp 19.2% due to a severe drop in pricing and shipment volumes. “Demand for printing and writing paper dropped due to a structural change towards digital media and lower advertising spending due to the global recession, particularly in mature markets in Europe and North America,” according to IBISWorld industry analyst Caitlin Moldvay. Furthermore, decreased consumer spending and industrial production resulted in lower demand for paperboard from the packaging sector. Even revenue from tissue products, a staple consumer product, declined as consumers shifted towards more inexpensive varieties.

Gap Returns With Fall Campaign

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/gap-returns-tv-fall-campaign/243615/
Gap is making a comeback on the small screen.
The brand's fall campaign, "Back to Blue," will include TV buys for the first time in four years. It's only the second time in the last seven years the brand has advertised on TV, the last time being Christmas 2009.
Peterson Milla Hooks is handling the fall campaign, touted as Gap's broadest-reaching campaign in modern history. It includes print, outdoor, direct, social, in-store and digital, in addition to TV. The TV ads will be unveiled through an "innovative" partnership in mid-September, though Seth Farbman, Gap's global chief marketing officer, declined to share any specifics.
"We feel that after this two-year journey…we've turned that corner. We have momentum. We have clarity on what we want to say, and now we want to say it in the broadest way possible," said Mr. Farbman. "We have always been a brand that benefits from moving pictures, sound, emotional engagement. …Also, the reality is that TV continues to be the medium that gets you mass reach quickly."

Time Magazine to Produce Documentaries

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296
Time’s new division, Red Border Films, will produce one 10-minute documentary per month and two longer, more ambitious projects each year. Some will tie into articles in the magazine. Its first documentary, tied to the upcoming 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, will be released on Wednesday.
NY Times

NFL Print Campaign in Fashion Magazines

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296
A 16-page insert (“The Savvy Girl’s Guide to Football”) in Marie Claire (subscribers get it as a separate supplement) is the centerpiece of this year’s NFL print campaign to increase its appeal to women and sell them licensed apparel. (NFL is also working with seven other women’s magazines, including Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Us Weekly). MC’s editorial team produced the editorial for the insert/supplement (which includes six ad pages for NFL women’s apparel). 
Ad Age

Woman’s World Now #1 on Newsstand

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296
Samir Husni notes that the 1H AAM numbers showed Bauer’s Woman’s World as the top-selling newsstand title, with 1,103,996 to Hearst’s Cosmopolitan’s 1,028,892. Also notes that Bauer, Hearst and Meredith are all preparing new print magazine launches. 
MrMagazine

Ad Groups Warn Of Ad-Tax Deduction Threat

http://adage.com/article/news/ana-aaf-warn-potential-threat-ad-tax-deduction/243614/
The threat is more a specter right now than a real danger, but industry lobbyists are treating the possibility Congress could eliminate or curtail the expensing of advertising fees as a looming Armageddon.
Dan Jaffe, top lobbyist for the Association of National Advertisers, said that there are proposals under consideration in both the House and Senate that would affect the ability of businesses to expense advertising fees for tax purposes. Mr. Jaffe said a prevalent idea is to allow a business to expense advertising costs -- but not fully in the year the expense is incurred, but instead, over a number of years.
Ending the ability to expense advertising costs would be" counterproductive" for the U.S. Treasury, said Mr. Jaffe, because businesses would advertise less, make less money and pay fewer taxes.

Reaction to Marketplace Fairness Bill (Online Sales Tax)

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/article/reaction-marketplace-fairness-act-editors-note/1
Here's the reaction that we received regarding last issue's Editor's Note, which focused on the highly controversial Marketplace Fairness Act (i.e., the online sales tax law) that's currently being debated in Congress. Thanks to all who sumbmitted letters!
The Marketplace Fairness Act is awful, especially for small businesses. I work for an online and catalog arts-and-crafts company, and our primary market is churches (mainly down South) that do Vacation Bible School, with a small presence in libraries, schools and hospitals. Our biggest issue is how are we supposed to handle tax-exempt organizations.

RRD Announces $350 Million Debt Offering

http://www.piworld.com/article/rr-donnelley-announces-350-million-debt-offering-in-underwritten-public-offering/1
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company is planning to offer $350 million of senior notes due 2022 in an underwritten public offering. 
RR Donnelley intends to use the net proceeds from this offering, along with borrowings under its revolving credit facility, (1) to fund tender offers for up to $350 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.500 percent notes due 2015, 6.125 percent notes due 2017 and 7.250 percent notes due 2018 based on prices to be determined; and (2) to pay premiums in connection with those tender offers. If there are any remaining proceeds from the notes, RR Donnelley intends to use those proceeds to repay borrowings under its revolving credit facility and for general corporate purposes. Amounts repaid under its revolving credit facility may be reborrowed for general corporate purposes, including the repayment or redemption of other indebtedness. RR Donnelley expects to announce that it is commencing these tender offers in a separate press release issued upon commencing the tender offers. The completion of each tender offer will be subject to customary closing conditions. 

Survey: QR Code Use Up

http://thedigitalnirvana.com/2013/08/survey-says-qr-code-use-falling-not/
I keep hearing a common refrain: QR Codes are going away. Consumers aren’t using them. They are out-dated. They are being replaced by more sophisticated technology. Blah, blah, blabbidy blah, blah, blah.
The fact is, the data just don’t support those statements. ScanLife just released its Q2 2013 barcode trend report and once again — just as in all of its previous trend reports — QR Code scans are going up.
Consider these numbers:
Q2 2013 saw 4 million new QR Code scanners worldwide
Users scan QR Codes 3x per month — up 22% from the previous quarter
Scanning from tablets has increased by a whopping 1300% from one year ago

USPS Reports Q3 Results


http://whattheythink.com/news/64833-postal-service-actions-improve-efficiency-help-lower-third-quarter-loss/
The U.S. Postal Service ended the third quarter of its 2013 fiscal year (April 1 – June 30) with a net loss of $740 million, increasing the year-to-date net loss to $3.9 billion. Aggressive Postal Service actions to contain costs and increase efficiency, along with a decrease in workers’ compensation expense due to fluctuations of discount rates, prevented the financial loss from being greater.
However, the Postal Service will not return to profitability and long-term financial stability without passage of comprehensive legislation to fix a business model that does not allow it to adapt to changes in the marketplace.http://www.dmnews.com/usps-releases-3q-results-small-improvement-versus-2012/article/306882/
Despite a 1% decline in total mail volume in its third quarter ended June 30, the U.S. Postal Service posted an operating revenue increase of 3.6%. But a net loss of $740 million led the agency to declare it would once again be forced to default on a $5.6 billion health benefits prefunding payment due September 3. 
Both Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and CFO Joe Corbett pointed to Congress's failure to enact postal reform as a key contributing factor to operating losses. “We need to make fundamental changes to the way we currently do business, changes that are part of our five-year business plan,” said Corbett in releasing the earnings statement. “However, without comprehensive postal reform legislation signed into law, our hands are tied and we expect multibillion-dollar losses to continue.