Thursday, July 26, 2012

EURO-GRAPH Reports H1 2012 P&W Ships


EURO-GRAPH has reported European H1 2012 shipments of coated mechanical papers fell -7% as compared to the same period last year. Demand was down -9.4% and exports increased 1.7%. Coated woodfree shipments decreased -3%, demand declined -2,6% and exports fell -8.5%. Supercalendered shipments were down -3.6%, demand decreased -1.5% and exports fell -12.2%.

Taiwan Will Not Levy Duties on Coated Imports


Taiwan will not levy anti-dumping duties on coated paper imports from China, Japan, South Korea and Finland.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced yesterday that it would not levy temporary anti-dumping duties on imported coated paper from China, Japan, South Korea and Finland, as the government's preliminary evaluation showed these imports did not cause real damage to the local paper manufacturing industry.

Burgo Closing Coated PM


Burgo is set to reduce its coated woodfree (CWF) paper capacity.
During a meeting of company officials and trade union representatives in Rome last week the firm revealed plans to shut down the 120,000 tonne/yr PM 1 at its mill in Avezzano, central Italy.

APRIL Starts 450,000 PM


Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) has commissioned a 450,000 tonne/yr uncoated fine paper machine at a greenfield mill in Jiangmen city, Guangdong province.
The first sheet of paper rolled off the line on July 20, said a contact from the company.

Weyerhaeuser Cuts Pulp Price

Weyerhaeuser have informed North American customers that their northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp prices would decline to $850/tonne, effective August 1 until further notice.

IP Reports Q2 Earnings

International Paper 2Q 2012 results: net earnings including impact of ...:
International Paper today reported second-quarter 2012 net earnings attributable to common shareholders totaling $134 million compared with net earnings of $188 million in the first quarter of 2012.

AF&PA Publishes Sustainability Report

2012 AF&PA Sustainability Report Shows Significant, Measurable Progress On Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 Goals: (USA) The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) today released the results of its biennial Sustainability Report, which showed that the U.S. paper, pulp and wood products industry has made significant, measurable progress toward achieving the goals of its Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 sustainability initiative.

Newsprint Exports Decline Sharply

Newsprint Exports See Drastic Fall: A drastic fall in Canadian newsprint shipments to traditional export markets in Asia and Latin America this year is creating more storm clouds for the industry. For all North American mills, June offshore shipments were down 23 percent from a year earlier and down 25 percent for the first six months of 2012. Offshore business represented 28 percent of total shipments.

Consumer Magazines: 14.7% of Ad Spending

Share of U.S. Advertising Spend by Medium: Kantar Media has published a report on U.S. advertising spend by medium.

RRD Reducing Pension Contributions

R.R. Donnelley whittles away at expected pension contribution:
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Chicago, will reduce its expected 2012 pension contributions by $46 million, primarily as a result of the recently passed federal highway bill.

Magazines Rank Highest In Ad Receptivity

Magazines Continue to Rank Highest In Ad Receptivity: Magazines continue to score significantly higher than TV or online in ad receptivity, as well as other key engagement dimensions.

Country Sampler Finds Way to Cut Costs

Country Sampler Tweaks Color Correction, Saves Big:
For image-heavy publications, the color-correction stage is a critical pre-press process and, if adjusted for maximum precision, can be an area where publishers can save big on printing costs.
Karen Elston Davis, prepress manager for Country Sampler Group, began a quest last year to find a method that could dramatically decrease color correction time while improving quality and color balance. 

Governors Pushing for On-line Sales Tax


More than 21 states have simplified how they collect taxes in hopes of recovering an estimated $20 billion in sales taxes that go uncollected by out-of-state online merchants every year. But the nation's governors say they still need help from Congress.
Online sales are soaring. State budget deficits are growing. And tax-free Internet sales are once again in the spotlight.
Congress is considering bills that would “level the playing field” by allowing states to require all online merchants doing business in that state to collect sales tax. Web retailers have largely had a free ride since a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that only merchants with a physical presence in a state are responsible for collecting sales tax.

MAZ Plans to Change Publishing Apps


When you jam a bunch of ex-Apple designers and smart engineers into the same company, the outcome is usually pretty good.
That's still true with MAZ, a New York-based startup that's building a way for publishers to quickly roll out iPad applications for their publications.

Wired Best in Digital



  http://www.adweek.com/news/press/wired-new-yorker-entertainment-weekly-top-l2s-digital-rankings-142149
Wired is the most successful magazine brand in the digital space, according to digital marketing think tank L2. Today, L2 released its second annual Digital IQ Index: Magazines study, which ranks the best and worst digital strategies in magazine publishing.

Hearst's Elle and Marie Claire Publishing Largest Issues


It looks like September is set to be a record-breaking month for a whole slew of fashion titles. Following Hearst’s news that Elle and Marie Claire are publishing their largest-ever issues (the former for Hearst, the latter for the magazine itself), Vogue, InStyle and People StyleWatch are on track to set their own records with impressive ad gains.

Random House & FreemantleMedia to Develop TV Shows


In a corporate-sibling partnership that could help FremantleMedia build a scripted programming business in the U.S., the production company has inked a first-look deal with Random House to co-develop shows based on book titles.

ZenithOptimedia Names CEO


Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia has promoted Dave Penski to the post of U.S. CEO of Zenith, one of the two agencies under the ZO banner. The other is Optimedia.
Penski will continue to report to Tim Jones, North American CEO of ZenithOptimedia.
Previously, Penski, who has been with the agency for more than a decade, had been president of Zenith since 2009.

Congress Investigating Data Sellers


A group of U.S. representatives has opened an investigation of companies that collect and sell marketing databases and sales contact lists.
On Wednesday, Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) sent letters to Acxiom Corp., Epsilon, Equifax Inc., Experian, Harte-Hanks, Intelius Inc., Fair Isaac Corp. (FICO), Merkle Inc. and Meredith Corp., requesting such information as the sources of the data they collect; racial, ethnic or religious information collected; methods of data collection, such as social media or mobile usage; and consumer data access and opt-out methods. The letters requested information from 14 detailed and separate categories.

Time's People.com Names First Mobile Editor


As mobile news editor, Orloff will focus on developing content as part of the mobile site's new "dayparting" strategy in which the content will be published based on how users are spending their time at different points in the day. Thus, the content will be optimized for morning commute, lunch-break, or planning an evening’s entertainment. The mobile site will include a new social-sharing tool to make it easier for users to share content by e-mail, SMS, Facebook and Twitter as well as integrated commenting across mobile, desktop and tablet devices.

Murdoch Quits as News International Director

Rupert Murdoch quits as News International director:
Rupert Murdoch quit News International's (NI) three major publishing houses - News Corp Investments, News International Group and Times Newspaper Holdings.
NI would not confirm details of the US "small subsidiary boards" from which he had resigned.
A spokesperson for the media giant said that Murdoch would remain committed to his role as chief executive of entertainment and reduce his duties to chairman of the publishing business when the conglomerate splits.