Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Sappi Europe Will Increase Coated Prices

Sappi Fine Paper Europe today confirmed it is proceeding with its previously announced price increase for woodfree coated sheets and reels as per January/February 2013. 

Sappi Approves Coater Rebuild Project

Sappi Fine Paper North America approves $2.5M coater re-build project at its Westbrook Mill in Maine: Sappi Fine Paper North America today announced the approval for its $2.5M capital project to re-build a specialty paper coater at its Westbrook Mill in Westbrook, Maine. The investment is comprised of an upgrade in the web handling, coating and drying capabilities of #20 coater. Bringing expanded manufacturing capacity, and delivering higher yield, this upgrade allows Sappi's Release business to sustain market leadership with its Classics product line into the next decade.

Irving Paper Reports Record Levels

Irving Paper: Record-Breaking Performance: Irving Paper has a new target to beat in 2013 as it ends 2012 with record-breaking production. The team of over 300 employees pulled together to make 408,214 tonnes of quality specialty grade paper. While production has increased, the team has worked hard to reduce the mill’s impact on the environment. Over the past five years, Irving Paper has achieved a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions – the equivalent of about 20,000 cars off the road.

IP Joins Two Sides

International Paper Becomes Member of Two Sides:
Two Sides said that International Paper has become a member, joining with other companies across the graphic communications value chain to promote the responsible production, use and sustainability of print and paper.

AF&PA Reports Paper & Paperboard Production

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) released its November 2012 Monthly Statistics of Paper, Paperboard & Wood Pulp today. 
November production of paper and paperboard decreased 0.9% year-over-year.
The November operating rate was 91.6%, compared to 91.9% in October (revised), 91.6% in September, 93.9% in August (revised), 91.5% in July, and 93.2% in June. The November 2011 rate was 91.2%.

China Reports Paper Production Up

Based on report by China Paper Association, in first 9 months of 2012, production and economic operation of pulp and paper firms in China maintained the growth momentum, up 4.67% year over year. However, inventory figures and growth in receivable account reflected market pressures the pulp paper firms are facing currently.

Catalogs Biggest Influence on Holiday Purchases

Baynote, a leading provider of personalized customer experience solutions, today revealed the results from its 3rd Annual Holiday Online Shopping Survey. The study, conducted in partnership with the e-tailing group, surveyed 1,000 U.S. online holiday shoppers between Nov. 24 and Dec. 5 in order to gain insight into consumer behavior and key buying influencers across various retail channels, including physical stores, eCommerce websites, social networks, tablets and mobile devices.  
Paper catalogs influenced both in-store and online purchases more than social media.
While 2012 saw the continued rise of social media platforms, their influence on holiday shoppers paled in comparison to the time-tested paper catalog. According to the survey, paper catalogs influenced twice as many consumers as both Pinterest and Twitter for both in-store and online purchases. Paper catalogs influenced 81.9 percent more in-store purchases and 42.9 percent more online purchases than Facebook. Social platforms were most influential to consumers between the ages of 25 and 34, while paper catalogs were most influential among consumers 45 years and older.

McGraw-Hill Education Offers Adaptive Learning Products

Today at the International Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas, McGraw-Hill Education launched a suite of adaptive learning products for higher education that use advanced technological engines to improve learning and student performance. The new "LearnSmart Advantage" suite takes adaptive learning – one of the biggest trends in education in 2012 – beyond the realm of course study tools by using adaptive technology to provide more dynamic, personalized learning experiences across new aspects of the student learning experience. Included in the suite is SmartBook™, the world's first ever adaptive e-book, which revolutionizes college reading by focusing students' attention on the content that is most critical to their learning.

2013 Global Ad Forecasts: Up 4-5%

Another worldwide advertising estimate has pulled back on its projections for growth in the industry.
Global advertising will now climb 4% in 2013 -- down almost a full percentage point from the previous estimate made by London-based Warc, a marketing research service. But Warc says advertising growth levels will spike up next year, 2014, to 5.5%.
Other ad agencies have lowered estimates for 2013, but eMarketer offered up more optimistic projections -- 2012 advertising spending grew 5.4% to just under $519 billion, a rate that will continue at about the same levels through 2016, topping out at $628 billion.

PRIMIR Study: Impact of Electronic Technologies on Print

PRIMIR's Impact of Electronic Technologies on Print Study Now Available: Reston, VA — PRIMIR, the Print Industries Market Information and Research Organization, today announced that its study, "Impact of Electronic Technologies on Print," is now available for sale. First published in February 2012 and previously only available to PRIMIR and NPES members, the 282-page report can now be purchased by non-members for $1,495.
In 2011, PRIMIR commissioned IT Strategies Inc. to investigate electronic communications technologies relative to how and why the printing industry is and will continue to be impacted by the ever-increasing array of communications solutions.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Stora Enso Shuts Down Hylte Newsprint PM

Stora Enso permanently halts 180,000 tonne/yr newsprint PM at Hylte mill in Sweden:
Stora Enso has permanently stopped the 180,000 tonne/yr newsprint unit PM 1 at its Hylte mill in southern Sweden.
Production was halted on December 27.
The company will now clean the machine and put any parts it can use on the mill's other PMs to the side, according to Henrik Axelsson, communications officer at the factory. The firm has yet to decide what will happen to the remainder of the PM in the long term, he added.

West Fraser Joins Others in Pulp Price Increase

One of North America's leading producers of northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp, West Fraser, announced to domestic and European customers that it was increasing prices effective January 1, industry contacts said.
Vancouver-headquartered West Fraser informed North American customers that its NBSK list price would increase to $900/tonne. The firm also also advised European customers that its price would be $840/tonne.
West Fraser's NBSK price increase, which it announced to customers in late December, is similar to hikes various major producers set for Jan. 1 in the USA and Europe.
Major producers that set US NBSK list prices at $900/tonne included Canfor Pulp, Resolute Forest Products, and Domtar, the first NBSK producer globally to set a January increase on Dec. 11. The increases are $30/tonne.

China's Pulp and RCP Imports Up

In November, China's Pulp imports grew 7.7% as compared to the same month in 2011,
according to data from China Customs.
Pulp imports for the first 11 months of the year totaled around 15.068 million tonnes, a surge of 15.4% from 2011. 
China's total recovered paper (RCP) imports soared 23.8% to around 2.570 million tonnes in November 2012, up from some 2.076 million tonnes in October, according to data from China Customs.
November's figure was also 3.4% higher than the 2.487 million tonnes recorded in the same month of 2011.
RCP imports totaled over 27.379 million tonnes for the first 11 months of 2012, up 11.5% from the year-earlier period.

Environmentalists, Forest Industry Struggle with Conservation Plan

Environmentalists are ready to give up on negotiations over the acclaimed Great Bear Rainforest conservation agreement, saying the forest industry is not moving quickly enough to achieve ecological and economic goals in the world’s largest temperate rainforest.
The forest industry says a final agreement is achievable and that the industry has come a long way toward getting there. It’s proving difficult, but not impossible, to develop models that reach the conservation goals, given the restraints logging is now under.

Readers Digest UK Cuts 75% of Staff

Readers Digest UK axes 75% of staff:
On Friday (4 January) the company, which was bought out of administration by private equity group Better Capital in 2010, ceased all trading of its CD, DVD and bookselling arm although it confirmed that existing orders would be honoured.  Meanwhile Reader's Digest UK (RD UK) has filed a proposal to place its direct marketing division into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) while it focuses on a restructure. A CVA is a legal agreement between a limited company and its creditors that sets out arrangements for the repayment or writing off of its debts.

Metrocorp Inc. Buys Slice Communications

Metrocorp Inc. Acquires Majority Stake in Slice Communications:
With mergers and acquisitions now hitting prerecession levels, it’s no surprise that Metrocorp Inc., the publisher of Boston and Philadelphia magazines, is expanding its reach by acquiring a majority stake in Slice Communications.
This small Philadelphia-based boutique public relations and social media agency that was founded in 2008 works with a variety of clients in the technology, professional services, customer services and non-profit sectors.

SMB Advertisers to Spend More

SMB advertisers to spend more this year:
Small and midsize businesses are generally confident about revenue growth this year and plan to increase their advertising expenditures, according to a study by marketing research company Ad-ology Research.

Publisher Associations SIIA, SIPA to Merge

Publisher associations SIIA, SIPA to merge:
The Software & Information Industry Association and the Specialized Information Publishers Association, two major associations for b-to-b publishers, plan to merge.

CEO Confidence Up

Conference Board: CEO Confidence Increases: The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence, which decreased in the third quarter, improved in the fourth quarter. The Measure now reads 46, up from 42 in the third quarter (a reading of more than 50 points reflects more positive than negative responses).
Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: “CEO Confidence improved in the final quarter of 2012, despite the cloud of fiscal uncertainty.

PEOPLE and Cooking Light Create Booklet

To kick off a healthy New Year, PEOPLE, the No. 1 celebrity brand, and Cooking Light, the nation’s leading epicurean brand, joined forces to create a special eight-page editorial booklet focused on healthy eating and weight-loss tips.  The digest-sized insert booklet, “Fresh Start,” features an exclusive interview with TV star Valerie Bertinelli, who reveals the secret to maintaining her 40-lb.weight loss for the past five years, and a “Celeb Slimdown Hall of Fame” including Kelly Osbourne, Jennifer Hudson, Ricki Lake, and Kelly Preston, along with stay-slim secrets from Cooking Light.