Norske Skog will resume production on the 150,000 ton/yr
newsprint PM 2 at its Skogn mill in
Norway on August 26. The company temporarily idled the machine on June 23. The
firm has decided to restart PM 2 as the Norwegian krone has strengthened,
leading to improved profitability, and because of a good order situation.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Nippon Paper Plans Power Sales
Nippon Paper Industries Co. will begin selling electricity
in fiscal 2014 by building power facilities mainly in eastern Japan, a company
source said Tuesday. Nippon Paper plans to set up several thermal power plants
with a capacity of several hundred thousand kilowatts each in the premises of
its existing paper mills, including a 100,000-kw coal-fired plant in
Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, the source said. The Tokyo-based paper manufacturer already has power
generating facilities totaling 1.7 million kw in capacity, mostly for power
needs at its mills with a small amount of excess power sold to utilities.
Nippon Paper will retail electricity to affiliated firms in
fiscal 2014 and plans to expand the business to other companies and
municipalities from fiscal 2015 for projected annual sales of about ¥50
billion, the source said.
China’s Zhejiang Jingxing Paper Orders 2 Tissue PM’s
Andritz has received an order from Zhejiang Jingxing Paper,
China, to supply two tissue machines with steel Yankees to its location in
Pinghu city, Zhejiang Province, for the production of high-quality facial and
toilet paper. Start-up of the machines is scheduled for end of 2014 and
mid-2015 respectively.
Zhejiang Jingxing Paper is one of Asia’s largest linerboard
producers and is now entering the tissue business. The tissue machines, both of
the type PrimeLineST, are designed for a speed of 1,900 m/min and for a paper
width of 2.85 m. They will be equipped with 18 ft. PrimeDry Steel Yankees with
head insulation. The steel Yankees, in combination with a steam-heated hood,
enable a high drying capacity at minimized energy costs.
West Fraser Announces Asia NBSK Price Increase
West Fraser announced to customers throughout Asia that its price for NBSK (northern
bleached softwood kraft) market pulp would increase $20/ton, effective with
September orders.
Weyerhaeuser-Changes To Its Senior Management Team
Larry Burrows, senior vice president, Wood Products, will
retire on Oct. 31, 2013.
Cathy Slater has been named senior vice president, Oriented
Strand Board, Engineered Lumber Products and Distribution, effective
immediately. Slater brings more than 25 years of forest industry experience to
this role, including a variety of leadership positions in the company’s
Cellulose Fibers and Wood Products businesses. Adrian Blocker has been named senior vice president, Lumber,
effective immediately. Blocker joined Weyerhaeuser in May 2013 as vice
president, Lumber. He brings more than 30 years of experience to this role,
including forestland management, fiber procurement, consumer packaging, and
wood products manufacturing of lumber, plywood and laminated veneer lumber. Both Slater and Blocker will report to Doyle Simons,
president and chief executive officer. “Both Adrian and Cathy bring manufacturing expertise and
tremendous focus on results to their new roles,” Simons said. “I look forward
to working directly with each of them as we continue to drive operational
excellence in our Wood Products businesses.
Weyerhaeuser also announced the retirement of Miles Drake,
chief technology officer and senior vice president Research and Development.
Effective immediately, the company’s R&D organization will report directly
to Shaker Chandrasekaran, senior vice president, Cellulose Fibers.
Wall Street Ups Outlook For Meredith, Magazine Industry
Citing an uptick in print ad page demand, Wall Street
analyst Matt Chesler raised his outlook for magazine publishing giant Meredith.
The move comes amid other recent positive signals from magazine publishers. On
Friday, for example, Hearst announced its first rate base increase for Town &
Country magazine in 10 years -- boosting it 5.5% to 475,000, effective with the
January 2014 issue. “According to MIN data released after Friday’s close,
magazine industry print ad pages rose 0.7% for September monthly titles,”
Deutsche Bank's Chesler writes in a report sent to investors this morning.
“This follows August’s +1.1%, and points to some sense of stabilization in the
industry. The year-to-date performance (February through September 2013) is
+0.4%, essentially flat, and significantly better than what it was at the same
time last year (-4.3%)." As a group, Chesler noted that Meredith’s print
ad pages were up 6% in September, following a 7% gain in August, “with results
driven by gains at Rachael Ray +44%, Parents +25%, Ladies Home Journal +17%,
FamilyFun +16%, Successful Farming +11%, and American Baby +7%.” “The
commonality is that the strong titles are in food, reflecting Meredith’s scale
play in the category, and in parenting,” he explains, “reflecting the recent
acquisitions of Bonnier’s Parenting and BabyTalk magazines. Encouragingly,
Better Homes & Gardens was +2%, the best result in over a year. A number of
titles are still showing declines (Traditional Home -22%, Family Circle -13%,
Fitness -5%, More -3%), but the gainers now lead the decliners.” As a result of
these trends, Chesler boosted his first-quarter 2014 ad revenue outlook for
Meredith from +1% to +3%.
New Lit Journal Launches In the South
New literary journal China Grove launches August 28, and
will feature a previously unseen letter from Mark Twain regarding an
unpublished work called “The Great Republic’s Peanut Stand." The journal
will also feature an exclusive interview with Ellen Gilchrist, and a love
letter from Pulitzer Prize winner Eudora Welty to crime fiction writer Kenneth
Millar. The journal's name comes from the Eudora Welty short story, “Why I Live
at the P. O.” Edited by Dr. Scott Anderson, MD, and Dr. Luke Lampton, MD,
the journal will pair fiction from new writers alongside literary giants like
Twain. Anderson said: “Our goal is to give talented newcomers a chance to be
published next to legends, and to see the history of what it is they’ve chosen
to pursue as a vocation.” Two issues will be published in 2014, with
forthcoming issues running quarterly in subsequent years. Each issue will
feature an interview with a renowned Mississippi author. Submissions are
accepted for unpublished short fiction, poetry, and essays. The journal will
award two literary prizes: The Gilchrist Prize in Short Fiction given
biannually starting Fall 2014 with a prize of $2,000, and The China Grove Prize
in Poetry in 2015.
Future Publishing Picks Up 2 Titles From Bauer
Future Publishing Australia has moved to take two tech
magazines from Bauer Media as the German-backed publisher continues to slim
down its portfolio of titles. Underperforming TechLife, which lost more than a
quarter of its circulation in today’s Australian Bureau of Circulation monthly
mag figures, and APC, which made a marginal game, will join FPA’s stable of
tech-focused products which include Tech Radar and Australian T3. The deal also
includes all digital properties for the brands.Neville Daniels, COO of FPA, said: “APC and TechLife are
incredibly strong brands in the Australian technology sector – both engage
large, loyal audiences of tech-savvy, influential early adopters.“And both perfectly complement our existing portfolio. We’re
looking forward to working with their talented teams as we develop our
technology audiences across print, tablet, mobile and online, focused on
becoming Australia’s leading technology publisher.”
News Owner Bets Heavily On Print
As other publishers prepare for a digital-only future,
Kushner adds staff and expands his newspaper. This week he launched the Long
Beach Register. Over the last year, the Orange County Register has been
furiously paddling against a riptide that has newspapers around the country
laying off journalists, shrinking coverage and in some cases cutting back home
delivery. The Register has doubled the number of reporters and editors to 350
and fattened the paper by adding 22 weekly sections. On a recent Tuesday, it
had 72 pages while the Los Angeles Times had 42. The Register's parent company,
Freedom Communications Inc. in Irvine, has expanded its 26 weekly community
newspapers and turned two into five-day-a-week operations. On Monday, it
launched the Long Beach Register in a community wedded for so long to its
hometown paper, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, that previous incursions by the
Register and the Los Angeles Times fell flat. And, according to industry
sources, Freedom is negotiating to buy the Press-Enterprise in Riverside County.
Behind these surprising investments is a 40-year-old former greeting-card
executive named Aaron Kushner, who acquired Freedom a year ago. As other
publishers prepare for a digital-only future, Kushner is betting heavily on
print, confident that intensely local — and often upbeat — news will attract
advertisers. It's a bold experiment that media executives around the country
are watching closely. Many believe that it defies the economic realities of a
business whose readers and advertisers are increasingly abandoning print and
going online.In an interview, Kushner declined to provide details of his
company's financial performance. But he said his contrarian strategy is already
showing promise.
"We were profitable last year," said Kushner,
Freedom's chief executive. "We will be profitable this year, profitable
next year and profitable the following year. Every controllable category of
advertising is up, and circulation revenue is up." Kushner's message to the Register staff has been less
upbeat. He told employees this month that the company's financial performance
had fallen short of expectations for the second quarter. As of January, Freedom
stopped matching employees' 401(k) contributions. "Clearly digital is going to be important, but Kushner
understands that right now 90% of revenue and 100% of profit comes off the
newsprint."
Hearst Editorial Shakeups at Elle and Cosmo
Hearst has shaken up the top Web jobs at Cosmopolitan and
Elle. The magazine publisher's digital arm just announced that Amy Odell, who
previously edited fashion coverage at BuzzFeed, will serve as editor of
Cosmopolitan.com and Leah Chernikoff, editorial director at Fashionista, will
edit Elle.com.
But with the new hires come layoffs. Mashable reported
earlier that Elle.com editor Amina Akhtar and Cosmopolitan digital director
Abby Gardner were shown the door this morning. Hearst did not respond to
multiple requests for comment on the layoffs, but Akhtar confirmed her
departure in an email to Adweek—and heaped praise on her now-former colleagues.
"These things happen," she said. "The only thing I will say is
that I've worked with an awesome team—both digital and print—to create one of
the best fashion sites out there. And it's been incredible working with everyone,
including [Elle editor in chief] Robbie [Myers], who is the best there
is." Odell and Chernikoff are scheduled to start their new jobs on Sept.
16, Hearst said in its release. Hearst also announced that it has hired Spin
Media's Annie Fox to serve as "director of programming to work with
content and product teams to evolve stronger community connections and expand
the network of contributors." “Cosmo and Elle are starting important
conversations, breaking news and offering commentary on the big stories that
matter to our users: young women who care about the worlds of fashion,
entertainment, politics, women’s issues and world news,” said Hearst Magazines
Digital Media president Troy Young in a statement. “Amy’s well-respected point
of view will drive Cosmo as the site evolves its content; Leah’s deep knowledge
of the industry and her news sensibility will grow Elle.com’s influence as a
leading voice of fashion and style online and Annie’s analytic expertise will
take everything we do to the next level of engagement.”
Quad Expands KY Printing Newspaper Inserts
Those looking for weekly deals often turn to the newspaper
for inserts. Many of those inserts are printed in South Central Kentucky and
business is now expanding. "Ink on paper is what we need to have going
on," says Todd Ramsey, Plant Director for Quad/Graphics. With the cut of a
ribbon, more of that ink will be flowing at Quad/Graphics in Franklin. Their
name may be unfamiliar, but their product is used everyday. Large cooper
cylinders that rest inside are future newspaper inserts for major retailers. "So when you see those in the paper those are made
here. We produced 2.6 billion inserts in the last 12 months," says Ramsey. To expand on an already popular industry, 25 employees were
hired this year and another 14 will be in the coming weeks. $3 million has also
been invested on a new rack printing system. "It's all about how
competitive we can be within the market and doing this expansion with the rack
is definitely doing that. It allows us to do 30% more cylinder capacity, as
well as faster through put, more efficiency so we can keep the presses
running," says Ramsey.
Paperlinx Reduces Losses-Targets Profits In 2014
"We've definitely turned a corner and all the blood
sweat and tears of the past seven months have started to unravel all the bad
work that was done before. It shows the market that our plan is starting to
work; we're paying down debt and the business is turning around," said
Paperlinx executive director Andrew Price. According to the merchanting group's figures, profits across its operations
in Asia, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand grew by more than a third, however
the company continued to be hamstrung by its European operations, which account
for just over 70% of its revenue. To the year ending 30 June 2013, sales at the firm's
European operations dipped by 16% to A$1.9bn, compared with A$2.3bn in the
previous year, which the company blamed on declining demand. However, European
losses ballooned from A$23.6m to A$34.3m. In the UK, which accounts for around
30% of Paperlinx's global revenues, Price said the recovery was "full
steam ahead". “We're bringing back some serious volume. Margin is key
though and we've got to do some work on that - that's going to be our focus
going forward," added Price.
In a statement, the chief executive Dave Allen said that
Paperlinx's ongoing restructuring, which has been largely focused on its
European operations and cost A$26m in the past year, was expected to deliver
A$35m-A$40m of savings annually from next year. He added that the Australian group
was confident that the business would be "marginally profitable" in
its 2014 full-year results.
Murdoch Speculation If Criminal Charges Are Brought
Lawyers speculating on Rupert Murdoch's intentions for his
publishing empire have said that closure or a sell off of his entire UK
newspaper business, including titles such as The Times, the Sunday Times and
The Sun, could happen should charges be brought against News UK in relation to
phone hacking and bribery of public officials. The ‘nuclear option’ would be a
bid to prevent any fallout from the affair from damaging Murdoch’s commercial
interests in the US, according to Anil Rajani of IBB Law. He told The
Telegraph: “News UK can’t be charged as a corporate entity if it doesn’t exist
as a corporation. And if a company is in the process of being wound up, it also
counts as a factor against prosecution.” It follows confirmation that the
Metropolitan Police are now treating the company as a corporate suspect in its
investigation, opening the possibility of corporate charges being brought
against it.
News Corp. Unveils 'Global Exchange'
News Corp. this morning unveiled plans to launch a
"global programmatic advertising exchange," which it says will enable
marketers to "collectively leverage" News Corp.'s online and mobile
properties, as well as its data, for programmatic buying and real-time bidding.
The exchange, dubbed The News Corp. Global Exchange, will replace all other
"arrangements" News Corp. has with other third-party ad networks. News
Corp. said the exchange will roll out over the next few weeks and that it will
include "more than 50 leading Web sites and mobile products," including WSJ.com, Times.co.uk, NYPost.com,
TheAustralian.com.au, News.com.au, MarketWatch.com, TheSun.co.uk, as well as
BallBall, the recently launched mobile app and web site for exclusive European
football highlights in Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam.
B&N Not Selling Retail Business
Despite industry predictions and an earlier plan by B&N
chair Len Riggio that he would buy the retail business, B&N executives
backed off from plans to separate the B&N retail and Nook Media business
units. In a conference call following the release of B&N’s fiscal 2014
first quarter results, B&N executives cited the importance of device
production to content providers, once again pointed to the advantages of its
physical stores in conjunction with digital distribution and outlined new
strategies to address mounting Nook Media losses. While Riggio announced that
he was suspending efforts to buy the retail business, he also made it clear
that “I reserve the right to pursue an offer in the future," so the issue
may be revisited. B&N president and Nook Media CEO Michael Huseby, CEO of
B&N retail Mitch Klipper and other executives were on hand to address
questions about the shift in strategy, including concern from some investors on
the call that Nook Media is masking the value of B&N retail; and that
B&N retail is financing the mounting losses in the Nook Media unit. Huseby
said the sale to Riggio has been halted and executives were reviewing the
strategy. Huseby emphasized that “despite the Nook losses,” B&N’s overall
position was “strong” and the company ended the first quarter with a net cash
position of $73 million.
Digital Ad Spend in 2013, 25% Of Total Media
Digital to
account for 25% of total media ad spend in 2013, eMarketer Digital ad spend is
set to grow to $42.26bn this year, and will account for 24.7 per cent of total
media ad spending this year, according to eMarketer's latest estimates on US ad
spending. The research found that digital is set to grow from $36.80 billion in
2012; with mobile to play a bit part in this, as it is expected that mobile
spend will grow by 95 per cent. In total, it is suggested that mobile will
account for a fifth (20.1 per cent) of all digital ad spending, and five per
cent of total media ad spending. This year, eMarketer expects 51.5 per cent of
all spending on mobile ads to go toward search, compared to 44.8 per cent for
display ads, including banners, video and other formats. eMarketer's latest
forecast for digital ad spending anticipates 14.9 per cent growth for the year,
which it suggests is set to continue falling through 2017, when spending will
rise 7.1 per cent to reach $61.35bn.
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