The United Steelworkers Union
(USW) says that proposed state legislation to end Maryland's biofuel credit
could increase pollution and fuel costs, suppress development of renewable
fuels and lead to massive job loss.
Maryland House Bill 1102 and
Senate Bill 684, if passed, would redefine renewable energy to exclude
"black liquor"-a byproduct of the pulping process in the manufacture
of paper-as a biofuel.This would eliminate the payments that paper companies
currently receive from Maryland utilities for selling renewable-energy credits
to them. Maryland adopted a renewable energy law in 2005 that requires
utilities to buy certain minimum percentages of their electricity from
renewable sources. Washington, D.C. has a virtually identical law known as the
renewable portfolio standard law.
Paper companies use the spent
pulping liquor, which includes bark and unused wood chips leftover from the
pulping process, as fuel so that the material does not go into landfills or
water. This biomass fuel is carbon-neutral because the trees that are planted
for every tree brought into a mill absorb more carbon dioxide than the mill
emits when it uses this biofuel.
Unlike other industries, the
paper sector relies more on renewable fuel to reduce its dependency on fossil
fuels, and this helps the U.S. in its overall goal to reduce its carbon imprint
and dependence on other nations for fuel.
"If the fuel credit is taken
away, it will change the economics of fuel use at our mill," said USW
Local 676 President Greg Harvey , who is a recovery boiler operator at the
NewPage paper mill in Luke, Maryland.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Nippon Increases P&W Prices
Nippon Paper Industries Co.,
Ltd. (President: Yoshio Haga) has announced price revisions for printing paper
in the domestic market to all its agencies.
Products subject to price revisions: Woodfree paper, coated woodfree paper, lightweight coated paper and ultra lightweight coated paper
Markup: Minimum 15 Yen/Kg
Timing of implementation: From April 21, 2013 shipment
Reason for implementation: Imported paper volume increased rapidly after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the fall of the market price continued to drop. Based on rapid earnings deterioration, Nippon Paper Industries decided that the price had to be corrected to a sustainable level.
Products subject to price revisions: Woodfree paper, coated woodfree paper, lightweight coated paper and ultra lightweight coated paper
Markup: Minimum 15 Yen/Kg
Timing of implementation: From April 21, 2013 shipment
Reason for implementation: Imported paper volume increased rapidly after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the fall of the market price continued to drop. Based on rapid earnings deterioration, Nippon Paper Industries decided that the price had to be corrected to a sustainable level.
Another Mill Increases CWF Price in Europe
Papierfabrik Scheufelen,
Lenningen/Germany, wishes to inform that due to rising cost for raw material,
energy and transport, the company will be obliged to adjust its sales prices.
The price increase of 6-7 per
cent will be implemented for all deliveries as from April 1st 2013 and will be
applied for all woodfree coated qualities bvs and bro.
Three More Mills Increase Pulp Price
Domtar, which originally
announced a $30/tonne price increase on northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK)
market pulp to North American customers that was effective on March 1, will
delay its price hike until April.
Domtar told domestic customers
its NBSK list price would still increase to $930/tonne, but its effective date
is now April 1, industry contacts said.
West Fraser informed customers
in North America that it will increase northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK)
pulp prices to $930/tonne, up $30/tonne effective April 1, RISI learned today.
International Paper (IP)
announced to North American customers last week that its paper grade softwood
and hardwood kraft market pulp prices would increase effective March 1,
industry contacts said.
Memphis-headquartered IP told
domestic customers that its list price on southern bleached softwood kraft
(SBSK) would increase by $20/tonne, according to market participants.
Appleton Reports 2012 Results
Appleton's 2012 net sales of
$849.8 million decreased 0.9% compared to 2011 net sales of $857.3 million.
Appleton's fourth quarter 2012 net sales of $205.5 million were flat when
compared to fourth quarter 2011. Adjusting for the Company's decision to
discontinue the sale of carbonless papers into certain non-strategic
international markets, fourth quarter and full year 2012 net sales were up 7.9%
and 3.1%, respectively. The Company's strong revenue growth from thermal papers
almost entirely offset full year 2012 revenue declines in carbonless papers and
Encapsys.
Court Affirms APP Award to JPMorgan Chase
An Asian paper company that
defaulted on a JPMorgan Chase loan to buy machinery must disclose assets to pay
off a $53 million judgment, the 7th Circuit ruled.
JPMorgan Chase won $53 million in damages against Asia Pulp & Paper Co. and its subsidiaries, Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper and Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia, in 2010.
JPMorgan Chase won $53 million in damages against Asia Pulp & Paper Co. and its subsidiaries, Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper and Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia, in 2010.
What Bookstore Closings Mean for Niche Magazines
First Borders goes away, and now Barnes & Noble has said
it would close
one-third of its stores over the next decade, or about 20 locations per
year. While it's not good news for print books, there’s another casualty:
magazines, especially niche titles, given bookstores were the fourth-biggest
retail category for single-copy sales in 2011.
The Redesign of Redbook
Readers
will see the changes with a redesign starting with the April issue. On the
design side, the cover has been drastically revamped, from the new,
all-lowercase logo to the layout in which the cover star—this month's is The
Hills star and current Kohls designer Lauren Conrad—now shares real estate with
illustrated cover lines.
Women's Health Partners with Birchbox
http://adage.com/article/news/women-s-health-mag-partners-birchbox-april-edition/240138/
Rodale-owned Women's Health magazine is teaming up with Birchbox, one of the biggest subscription-commerce players, for a custom-box with a "wellness" theme next month
As reported a few months back, publishers have increasingly been dabbling with subscription commerce -- a model in which users pay an annual subscription and receive boxes filled with products and samples at regular intervals -- as a way to help expand their reach, and importantly, to help demonstrate a value-add to advertisers. Cooking Light for example, recently partnered with a player called CraveBox to white-label a discovery boxes that put magazine advertisers' products into the hands of subscribers.
Rodale-owned Women's Health magazine is teaming up with Birchbox, one of the biggest subscription-commerce players, for a custom-box with a "wellness" theme next month
As reported a few months back, publishers have increasingly been dabbling with subscription commerce -- a model in which users pay an annual subscription and receive boxes filled with products and samples at regular intervals -- as a way to help expand their reach, and importantly, to help demonstrate a value-add to advertisers. Cooking Light for example, recently partnered with a player called CraveBox to white-label a discovery boxes that put magazine advertisers' products into the hands of subscribers.
More Speculation on Time Selling Titles
Time Inc. now owns U.K. and Mexican publishers that could go to Meredith in a sale. IPC Media and Grupo Expansion both have some pieces that would slot well into the Meredith portfolio, and others that wouldn't.
Time bought Grupo Expansion in 2005 for an estimated $60 million. The Mexican company's 17 titles include Meredith-like women's monthlies and a celebrity magazine, as well as business and construction titles.
IPC Media's 60 U.K. titles range from The Field for the land-owning gentry to lifestyle publication Wallpaper, and include a lot of women's titles. Time paid $1.7 billion for IPC in 2001, but it's estimated to be worth only about half that now, an incentive for Time to consider selling IPC for the tax write-down.
Then again, Meredith could sell the international titles to help pay for the deal. IPC posted profit of $69 million on revenue of $501 million in 2011, up from a $56 million profit on sales of $511 million the previous year.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22699685/sunset-magazine-facing-uncertain-future-amid-time-warner?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.comSunset magazine facing uncertain future amid Time Warner breakup speculation
Sunset, the 114-year-old magazine that survived the San Francisco earthquake, introduced California to the backyard wooden deck and continues to be a must-read for foodies, garden lovers and armchair travelers, faces an uncertain future amid rumors of the planned breakup of the country's biggest magazine empire.
Sunset was sold to Time Warner in 1990 for $225 million and has continued to follow its popular formula of focusing on living in the West. But unconfirmed reports suggest that Sunset and its book-publishing arm could be part of a deal with Des Moines, Iowa-based Meredith Corp. that would allow Time Warner's magazine division, Time Inc., to retain magazines including Time, Fortune, Sports Illustrated and Money while shedding properties including People, InStyle and Real Simple.
That has loyal Sunset readers worrying about the future of their beloved magazine, which has not been mentioned in news stories.
Publishers Tighten the Paywall Meter
Publishers Tighten the Paywall Meter:
RR Donelley's metered paywall system Press+ has been keeping tabs on how its 400 customers are executing on their paid content strategies. According to a recent data report, the company says its customers are generally increasing subscription prices while lowering their meters. In other words, readers are paying more while free access for non-subscribers decreases.
According to Press+, the average monthly subscription price has gone up almost 40 percent since July 2011. Along with that trend, publishers are starting to tighten the meter, decreasing the number of stories non-subscribers are allowed to see before they're presented with an offer to pay up.
RR Donelley's metered paywall system Press+ has been keeping tabs on how its 400 customers are executing on their paid content strategies. According to a recent data report, the company says its customers are generally increasing subscription prices while lowering their meters. In other words, readers are paying more while free access for non-subscribers decreases.
According to Press+, the average monthly subscription price has gone up almost 40 percent since July 2011. Along with that trend, publishers are starting to tighten the meter, decreasing the number of stories non-subscribers are allowed to see before they're presented with an offer to pay up.
Foreign Affairs at Highest Print Circ
Foreign Affairs Doing Just Fine in Print, Thank You:
Foreign Affairs, the bimonthly magazine on American foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, is now at its highest print circ since launching more than 90 years ago. Citing second-half 2012 Alliance for Audited Media numbers, its total readership, which includes subscribers, sold newsstand copies and a small portion of non-paid circ, is at 163,000—10 percent higher than the prior year.
The growth, says the Council, comes on the heels of a 30 percent increase in cover price, from $9.95 to $12.99. According to the International Periodical Distributors Association, the magazine's 31,584 single-copy sales grew 22 percent in 2012 following the price increase.
Foreign Affairs, the bimonthly magazine on American foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, is now at its highest print circ since launching more than 90 years ago. Citing second-half 2012 Alliance for Audited Media numbers, its total readership, which includes subscribers, sold newsstand copies and a small portion of non-paid circ, is at 163,000—10 percent higher than the prior year.
The growth, says the Council, comes on the heels of a 30 percent increase in cover price, from $9.95 to $12.99. According to the International Periodical Distributors Association, the magazine's 31,584 single-copy sales grew 22 percent in 2012 following the price increase.
Condé Nast Invests in Farfetch
Condé Nast Invests in Fashion Commerce Site farfetch:
Condé Nast has been busy this first quarter making investments in fashion and design-related commerce sites. Boutique fashion curation site farfetch just secured a $20 million round led by the publisher's international division, which has also recently taken stakes in Monoqi (design) and RenéSim (jewelry)—both based in Germany.
Condé Nast has been busy this first quarter making investments in fashion and design-related commerce sites. Boutique fashion curation site farfetch just secured a $20 million round led by the publisher's international division, which has also recently taken stakes in Monoqi (design) and RenéSim (jewelry)—both based in Germany.
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