Sappi to Rebuild PM2, Alfeld, Germany

http://www.na.sappi.com/home

An ambitious rebuild of Papermaking Machine 2 (PM2) at Sappi's Alfeld Mill will create the world's largest papermaking machine producing one-side coated and MGBK (Machine Glazed Bleached Kraft) speciality grades. This complex and meticulously planned project, a €61 Million Investment, has created a great deal of excitement, both in the local community and in the packaging world at large.

UPM May Scrap UPM Myllykoski PMs

http://www.upm.com/en/Pages/default.aspx

UPM may scrap the remaining two machines at its shuttered Myllykoski mill in southern Finland if no buyer is found soon, according to Timo Suutarla, general manager of the factory. The firm does not intend to heat the facility this winter, which would render the machines unusable, he explained.

UPM will then take whatever spare parts it may need for other facilities and the remainder of the PMs would go to metal recycling, Suutarla added.

UPM closed the Myllykoski mill at the end of 2011. Earlier this year, the firm sold the 220,000 tonne/yr supercalendered (SC) paper unit PM 7 to Shandong Tralin Paper Company in China. The firm intends to convert the machine to make food wrapper from straw pulp.

The Myllykoski mill still houses two PMs: the 230,000 tonne/yr coated mechanical paper unit PM 4 and the 150,000 tonne/yr SC machine PM 6.

The mill itself is also still up for sale.

Holmen Reports H1 Results

http://www.holmen.com/

Profit after tax for January-June 2013 was SEK 274 million (January-June 2012: 701).
Earnings per share totalled SEK 3.3 (8.3).
Return on equity was 2.6 per cent (7.2).
Operating profit, excluding items affecting comparability, totalled SEK 545 million (1 048). The decline was attributable to lower selling prices for printing paper and a stronger Swedish krona.
Compared with the first quarter, operating profit rose by SEK 69 million to SEK 307 million. The establish-ment of a jointly-owned wind power company and start-up of a biofuel boiler in the UK had a positive effect on the result, while a major maintenance shutdown at Iggesund Mill had a negative impact.
The market situation for paperboard was stable, while demand for printing paper and sawn timber remained weak

Shandong Chenming Announces Integrated Forest /Pulp Project

http://e.sdkjg.com/yp/web/?60
The project is to construct the annual production capacity of 300,000-tonne bleached sulfate pine pulp with the ancillary establishment of 3,247,500 mu raw material forest bases, of which the chemical pulp project construction employs the present advanced and mature technical skills and equipment in the world. The project construction complies with the national paper making industry development policy and the technical skills meet the requirements of the first level indicators for cleaner production. The forest base project includes 1,633,500 mu forests owned by the Company and 1,614,000 mu associated forests.

Hearst & AOL Launch Bill Paying Service

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/us/digital-firms-to-challenge-postal-service-in-bill-paying.html?_r=0

As losses mount at the United States Postal Service, new digital mail companies are advantage by promising to give customers the ability to pay bills without having to lick envelopes, buy stamps or even get out of their chairs.

The latest threat to the Postal Service is a partnership to be announced Tuesday between Manilla, a bill-paying service owned by Hearst, and AOL.
Manilla’s customers will be able to view and pay their bills using e-mail accounts or through AOL’s Web site, said Jim Schinella, the chief executive of Manilla. In addition, Mr. Schinella said, users can link their Gmail or Yahoo accounts to the Manilla/AOL account manager, which can scan them for bills.
“So instead of opening a tab for your cable bill and then your electric or credit card bills, you can do it all in one place,” Mr. Schinella said.
At least a half-dozen other digital-mail start-ups have entered the marketplace in the last three years, including Volly, which is owned by Pitney Bowes, the maker of postage meters, and Zumbox, an online bill-paying service similar to Manilla. Another competitor, Outbox, will physically pick up its customers’ mail, scan it and make it available online.

Direct Maill: 43% of Local Media Retail Ad Spend

http://printinthemix.com/Fastfacts/Show/763

Local media ad space advising firm BIA/Kelsey’s most recent local market ad forecast report, Media Ad View Plus, has several findings of note.
The study, which gives a market-by-market view of the local media pie, reveals:  

The total local media market is calculated to be $132.5 billion. 

Direct mail is heavily used by local retailers, spending $10.7 billion in 2012, giving direct mail a 43% share of total retail advertising. Looking across all verticals, direct mail accounts for 27% of all local market spend.

Despite ongoing declines in circulation, in 2012, newspapers generated $22.5 billion for a 17.1% share of total advertising spend, second only to direct mail.

Coupons: Print Going Strong

http://printinthemix.com/Fastfacts/Show/761

Consumers of all ages and incomes use coupons, a Google/Shopper Sciences survey finds, with Millenials (ages 25-34) being the heaviest users and more likely than other age groups to turn to mobile and social media to acquire savings. Examining coupon use by age group, the survey finds: 

The youngest adults (age 18-24) are heavy mobile coupon seekers and users
Millenials (age 25-34) are more apt to turn to mobile and social media for coupons, but also rely on print and email sources.
Adults, age 35-44, obtain coupons from all sources (print, digital, mobile) equally 
Older consumers (ages 45-54) rely on digital and print, with mobile a lesser source.

Readers Still Prefer Printed Newspaper

http://www.printweek.com/news/1207190/Readers-prefer-printed-newspaper/

The study, which examined reading patterns of 12 national newspapers’ between 2007 and 2011, found that at least 96.7% of newspaper reading was physical rather than on-screen. 

In 2011, the newspapers studied had an average domestic daily readership per print copy of 2.1m compared to a maximum of 709,559 online.
The five quality/broadsheet newspapers studied were seen to have fared best in online popularity based on annual minutes spent reading and the number of usage sessions per day for each medium.
Non-charging websites of The Independent, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph were the most popular - up to 7% of the titles' total annual reading minutes. Of those that had established a paywall, the Financial Times got around 4.1% of their total annual reading minutes online, while website reading accounted for only 0.8% of access to The Times.

AMA Shuts Down News Magazine

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/ama-shuts-down-news-magazine#.UguzSbyYyKw

Citing a spiral of declining ad revenues, the American Medical Association (AMA) will stop publishing the print edition and website of American Medical News next month.
The AMA's biweekly medical industry news magazine has a circulation of 208,000, per BPA Worldwide, and despite a highly-qualified audience—about 90 percent of its recipients are doctors, they say—the group failed to overcome losses in print advertising.
Thomas J. Easley, senior vice president and publisher of periodic publications for the AMA, calls the magazine's ad-driven model "not sustainable," saying AM News operated at a loss in each of the last 10 years.
"The business model for AM News was limiting," he says. "[It] was entirely reliant on advertising, and predominantly print advertising. The other products in our portfolio have a healthier blend between print and digital on the advertising side, and more importantly, JAMA [the Journal of the American Medical Association] and the JAMA Network have subscriptions and site licensing."

Media Source/Air Age Media in Partnership

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/media-source-air-age-media-announce-partnership#.UguyXbyYyKw

The Media Source, a division of Source Interlink Companies, LLC, announced Tuesday it is partnering with multimedia publishing company Air Age Media.
The Media Source is an outsourcing partner that provides creative solutions for interested mid-sized companies looking to transition from print-centric to “platform agnostic” business models.
“The platform agnostic idea was a culture change that we’ve had,” says Stephanie Justice, EVP and chief administrative officer for Source Interlink Companies. “We’ve been more focused on our brand as opposed to seeing everything as separate entities and because we’re platform agnostic, we not only can get you a print product but a website, TV events—it’s all over the board.”
Air Age Media is a family-owned, Connecticut-based multimedia publisher of content for enthusiasts of radio-control (RC) cars, planes and boats. The company publishes six magazines about RC, aviation and diecast models, which include Flight Journal and Die Cast X, in addition to producing 10 websites, a weekly RC web show and the radio control expo, RCX, and complementary products such as books, DVDs and special issues.

GroupM Revises 2013 Global Ad Spending

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/groupm-revises-2013-global-ad-spending-downward-151844

GroupM revised its global 2013 ad spending forecast down to 3.4 percent growth to $507 billion, compared to the 4.5 percent increase predicted in December.

GroupM said the revised global estimate reflects the continuing economic decline in the Eurozone, particularly in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Ireland. The company said it expects that group of countries to record an 11 percent drop in 2013 measured media. In releasing the latest forecast, GroupM Futures director Adam Smith said stabilization in that region remains “elusive”.

USPS Expects Only 5 Day Cash Reserve

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2013/08/13/postal-service-expects-only-five-day-cash-reserve-in-october/

The U.S. Postal Service anticipates having only five days of operating cash on hand after making its annual workers’ compensation payment in October, leaving the agency with slim reserves in the event of an unforeseen downturn.
“This is a dangerously low level of cash,” said USPS Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett during a teleconference with reporters on Monday. “We do not have a sufficient cash cushion to run a business the size of the Postal Service.”
USPS spokesman David Partenheimer clarified Tuesday that the agency should be able to survive with a five-day reserve until the first quarter, when revenues for the agency typically begin to increase. “But no business should have to operate that way,” he added.

Craigslist Costs Newspapers $5 Billion In Lost Ads

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/206729/craigslist-costs-local-newspapers-5-billion-in-lo.html#axzz2bsbcVWWx

By offering buyers and sellers a free alternative to paid listings in newspapers, online classifieds site Craigslist saved users about $5 billion from 2000-2007, while costing local newspapers the same amount in lost classified advertising revenues, according to a new study by professors at the NYU Stern School of Business and Harvard Business School.
The study, titled “Responses to Entry in Multi-Sided Markets: The Impact of Craigslist on Local Newspapers,” explored the impact of Craigslist by analyzing newspaper publisher results over time, focusing on their degree of reliance on classifieds and the timing of Craigslist entry in their market, among other factors.  
Newspapers that were more reliant on classified revenues saw a bigger drop-off after Craiglist entered their markets.