Friday, June 1, 2012

IP Selling 3 Containerboard Mills

International Paper today announced that it has reached two agreements to sell three U.S containerboard mills in order to satisfy the company's obligations in its February 2012 settlement agreement, entered into in connection with the company's acquisition of Temple-Inland, with the U.S. Department of Justice.

UPM Completes Sale of Packaging Paper Operations

http://www.upm.com/en/media/all-news/Pages/The-sale-of-UPM%E2%80%99s-packaging-paper-operations-of-the-Pietarsaari-and-Tervasaari-m-001-Fri-01-Jun-2012-12-15.aspx

Billerud Finland Oy's acquisition of UPM's packaging paper operations at Pietarsaari and Tervasaari is now completed. Billerud Finland Oy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Billerud AB. The purchase price is around EUR 130 million.
Separately, UPM Raflatac reported that the company signed an agreement to acquire the business operations of Gascogne Laminates Switzerland SA. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The closing of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.

Verso Back in Control of Sartell PMs


Control of portions of the Sartell Verso paper mill were handed back to the company Wednesday after fire officials deemed them safe.
The paper production area is again under Verso’s control after an explosion and fire broke out in the warehouse Monday, badly damaging the building, killing one worker and injuring four.

Catalyst Posts For Sale Notice


Catalyst Paper Corporation advises that under order of the Supreme Court of British Columbia authorizing procedures for a sale and investor solicitation process, the following notice was published today in The Globe & Mail and The Wall Street Journal.

AF&PA CEO Named President of ICFPA

http://www.afandpa.org/

The International Council of Forest and Paper Associations (ICFPA) announced Donna Harman as its new President. Harman, president and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association, will serve in this capacity for the next two years. 
Separately, the AF&PA announced its approval of a bill introduced in Congress, the Forest Products Fairness Act of 2012 - which would modify the definition of "biobased" materials to specifically include forest products in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Biobased Markets Program.

Manufacturing Sector Posts Continued Growth

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-01/u-dot-s-dot-may-ism-manufacturing-report-on-business-text
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 34th consecutive month, and the overall economy grew for the 36th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. This represents an increase of 1.9 percentage points from April and also the highest level recorded by the index since April 2011.

List Rental Prices Fall


Worldata's List Price Index, released June 1, reveals that during Spring 2012, list rental prices have continued to drop, said Ray Tesi, SVP at Worldata.
According to the report, aggregated business database files, which typically get their information through web scraping and crowd sourcing, dropped substantially in b-to-c email list prices. Prices for databases and master files, which are sourced more traditionally from response and subscription lists, have also continued to fall.

Container Store Introduces Digital Catalog


The Container Store is introducing themed, interactive digital catalogs to highlight different subsets of its eclectic mix of storage and organization products. A new Web-based catalog will be published every six weeks, allowing the retailer to more effectively target specific audiences or shopping seasons. 

GQ Launches E-Commerce Sales

GQ Launches E-Commerce Sales with Nordstrom: GQ—Condé Nast's 980,000-circulation men's magazine—takes another step into e-commerce with a new partnership with retailer, and long-time advertiser, Nordstrom.

NAPL Expands Its Small Printer Services

NAPL Expands Its Small Printer Services: The industry’s quick and small commercial printers include “some of the industry’s most innovative and fast-growing companies,” says Andrew Paparozzi, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist at The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL). Now NAPL is expanding its services for this key industry segment with two new newsletters and a conference created exclusively for quick and small commercial printers.