Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Resolute Forest Products Reports Q2 Results

Resolute Forest Products reports net loss of $20 million in second quarter, 2012:
Resolute Forest Products has reported a net loss of $20 million in its second quarter of 2012 on sales of $1.2 billion. This can be compared to a net income of $61 million on sales of $1.2 billion in the second quarter of 2011.

Second Derailment Raises Concerns for Verso


After the second derailment in about as many months of a train going to or from the Verso mill, the papermaking plant is concerned.
The train that derailed early Sunday afternoon was carrying paper from Verso Paper Corp. when it went off the tracks at the intersection of Route 15, said Bill Cohen, a Verso spokesman.
Cohen said he couldn’t confirm how much paper was on the train, but said Verso was working with Pan Am Railways — which owns the tracks and operates the train — to assess how much product was damaged in the derailment.

Resolute Acquisition of Fibrek Moves Forward

Resolute Forest Products and Fibrek complete their second step arrangement:
/Resolute Forest Products Inc. and Fibrek Inc. have completed their previously announced second step plan of arrangement transaction, whereby Fibrek and RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Resolute, have amalgamated resulting in Resolute indirectly owning 100% of the shares of Fibrek Inc.
This announcement comes following the approval of the arrangement by Fibrek’s shareholders on July 23, 2012 and the issuance of a final order of the Superior Court of Quebec on July 27, 2012 approving the arrangement.

Judge Approves Sale of SP Newsprint Assets


Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in Wilmington on July 27 signed an order approving the bidding procedures of the newsprint producer.
According to court papers filed July 19, an affiliate of secured lender GE Capital Corp. will be stalking-horse bidder for the assets in a deal valued at $145 million. SPN AcquisitionCo LLC would credit-bid the entire amount of GE Capital’s outstanding revolving loans and a portion of an outstanding term loan for substantially all of the Greenwich, Conn., newsprint producer’s assets.

Consumers Prefer Print Statements & Bills

Print Statements and Bills Still Favored by Many U.S. Consumers: A survey of more than 5,000 US households found that 71% of consumers open print financial statements and bills mailed to them, and 65% said they actually preferred to get a print copy of their bill or statement.

USPS Issues Sustainability Report


The Sustainability and Energy Scorecard of the USPS shows that it is on track to meet all of its goals, except reducing vehicle petroleum fuel use by 20 percent by 2015.  The Scorecard is a reporting tool that federal government agencies use to publicly report on the progress of their sustainability goals. The USPS has experienced a 6.4 percent increase in fuel use, which earned it a “red” score, meaning it did not meet its goal to achieve a 10 percent reduction since 2005. All other goals earned a “green” score, which means they are on track to meet targets.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Catalyst Paper Closing Snowflake Mill

Catalyst Paper is permanently closing its Snowflake mill in Arizona:
Catalyst Paper has decided to permanently close its Snowflake recycle mill located in northeastern Arizona and its subsidiary the Apache Railway Company. The mill has two PMs with the capacity to produce ~400,000 stpy of newsprint and uncoated mechanical paper.
This follows extensive efforts to improve the operation’s financial performance in the face of intense supply input and market pressures. The operation is scheduled to shut production on September 30, 2012.

RISI Names Richard Garneau "CEO of the Year"

Richard Garneau named 2012 North American CEO of the Year:
RISI today announced that Richard Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Resolute Forest Products, has been selected as RISI’s 2012 North American CEO of the Year.

Domtar Reports Q2 Results

Domtar Corporation Reports Preliminary Second Quarter 2012 Financial Results: Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS) (TSX: UFS) today reported net earnings of $59 million ($1.61 per share) for the second quarter of 2012 compared to net earnings of $28 million ($0.76 per share) for the first quarter of 2012.

China's June RCP & Pulp Imports Fall

According to data from China Customs; China's total recovered paper (RCP) imports fell 16.7% to nearly 2.346 million tonnes in June, down from some 2.816 million tonnes in May.
China's total pulp imports fell 9.4% in June compared to the previous month, to nearly 1.354 million tonnes.

Resolute Estimates Cost of Bowater Mersey Closing

Resolute Forest Products’ costs for closing Bowater Mersey:
Resolute Forest Products has amended their estimate for the cost they will incur for indefinitely idling the Bowater Mersey newsprint mill in Nova Scotia.
Resolute Forest Products now estimates that it will incur, on an accounting basis, a charge of approximately $18 million for severance and other termination benefits and approximately $77 million of asset impairment charges to reduce the carrying value of the mill assets.

USPS Default Coming, Congress Not Moved to Act

Looming U.S. Postal Service Default Shakes Mailers’ Confidence: Missing the health pre-payment, the first default in the agency’s history, would not cause interruptions in service or prevent the Postal Service from paying suppliers and employees, USPS spokesman David Partenheimer said in an email. 
The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for a first-ever default on billions in payments due to the Treasury, adding to widening uncertainty about the mail agency’s solvency as first-class letters plummet and Congress deadlocks on ways to stem the red ink.

Cabela's Multi-Channel Future


Cabela's is taking initial steps to focus on a print-to-digital transformation. Last year, the company began to develop an approach to transform our 51-year-old legacy catalog business into an omni-channel enterprise.

New York Magazine & Dwell Annouce Venture


Dwell Media and New York Magazine today unveil the name of their joint venture celebrating design, now known as CITY MODERN. The partnership is comprised of a joint-publication (out this Fall), 10+ special design events the week of Oct 1-7, and modern home tours in Manhattan & Brooklyn Oct 6 & 7. 

Financial Times Digital Subscriptions Top Print


The Financial Times’ digital subscribers surpassed its print customers for the first time, marking a milestone that the New York Times and other newspapers with so-called paywalls are aiming to reach.
The newspaper’s digital subscribers grew 31 percent to 300,000 paying readers, compared with a year ago, Financial Times owner Pearson Plc (PSON) said today. Total circulation, including print, increased to almost 600,000.

F+W Acquires Aspire Media

F+W Acquires Aspire Media:  F+W has purchased Aspire Media, a Loveland, Colorado-based enthusiast publisher serving the craft market and backed by private equity firms Frontenac Company and Catalyst Investors. Terms of the deal were not released, but F+W CEO David Nussbaum says it will add another 30 percent of revenue to the company.

New Paper Options

New Paper Options: 
Production managers weigh in.
The basic idea behind paper buying is to strike the right balance between cost and quality. Determine your organization’s priorities, and make your compromises accordingly.

Omnimedia Reports Q2 Results

Martha Stewart Pares Loss; Publishing Still Weighs: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.’s  second-quarter loss narrowed as the media-and-merchandise company’s struggling publishing unit continued to weigh on its revenue. Martha Stewart Living reported a loss of $2.7 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with a loss of $2.94 million, or 5 cents, a year earlier. The most-recent quarter included $777,000 in restructuring charges. Revenue dropped 13% to $47.9 million.

Graphic Arts & Print; Pessimism for Q3

Semper Finds Pessimism Regarding Third-Quarter Sales in Latest ‘Industry Insight’ Survey: Semper International, the leading placement firm for skilled help in the graphic arts and printing industry, announces that in spite of profitability throughout the industry, many companies have a negative outlook for the rest of the quarter. The results of Semper’s most recent “Industry Insight” survey show a negative outlook and indecision about hiring plans.

Search for North America’s Greenest Printers

Search Launched for North America’s Greenest Printers: Canopy announces the release of the first comprehensive effort to identify North America’s greenest printers. The “Green Print Leadership Survey” will be circulated to the top 50 printers in North America to identify those demonstrating the highest green standards and engagement on forest conservation.