Another European Mill Increases Coated Price

http://www.tullisrussell.com/our-products/default.html

Tullis Russell to increase woodfree paper prices by 6% from May 20.

Tullis Russell Papermakers is announcing an average 6% price increase effective from 20 May 2013.
This is as a result of continued increases in costs, particularly in relation to pulp, energy and other raw materials.

Harbor Paper Closure Not Permanent

http://kxro.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/harbor-paper-closure-not-permanent-according-to-staff/

Harbor Paper has postponed the full restart of the mill, but staff said that it is not permanent. They say that reports that start-up has been delayed ‘indefinitely” are not accurate.
The company announced last week that the scheduled restart for this Monday had to be postponed.
Owner Cesar Scolari told employees they will be postponing their start up saying ““Please be assured that we continue to work diligently towards a comprehensive strategy that will accomplish this goal as soon as possible.”
Harbor Paper announced in February that they are cutting back production heavily while they adjusted their management. They told employees that Harbor Paper’s Board made the decision to do a wholesale management change at the mill.
They say that they plan to restart full operations and hope that these changes will improve the viability of the mill as a long term enterprise.

Port Hawkesbury Secures Wood Supply

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1123856-point-tupper-mill-links-with-peers

Since roaring back to life in October, the Port Hawkesbury Paper LP mill has reached out to provincial sawmills and pulp mills in an effort to create viable economic conditions.

Marc Dube, the Point Tupper mill's development manager, said that an important aspect of creating a vibrant innovation ecosystem is collaborating effectively with all interested parties, and in that respect, the mill and its partners are achieving that.

Second Mill Increases Carbonless Price

http://www.appletonideas.com/Appleton/jsps/StoreCatalogDisplay.do?langId=-1

Following a price increase this month on carbonless sheets, both Appleton and Glatfelter are out with roll price increases for later this month and next month on carbonless paper, contacts said this week.

Glatfelter had announced a carbonless sheet price increase for 6% effective Apr. 1.

NF Government Pledges $90 million to Kruger Corner Brook

http://www.kruger.com/index_en.html

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Tom Marshall, Minister of Natural Resources:

Mr. Speaker I am pleased to stand and inform this Honourable House that the Provincial Government plans to assist Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited with a $90 million loan.
Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is a key employer and a strong contributor to our economy. The mill is important not only to the west coast, but the entire province. Government has clearly stated that we will provide support only when negotiations for a new contract are concluded for all eight unions at the mill. 

http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2013-04-17/article-3221838/Marshall-defends-90million-loan-for-Corner-Brook-paper-mill/1

Newfoundland minister defends $90 million loan to Kruger mill, says support depends on union contract being reached

Natural Resources Minister Tom Marshall elaborated in the House of Assembly this afternoon on a $90-million loan to assist Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. "Corner Brook Pulp and Paper is a key employer and a strong contributor to our economy. The mill is important not only to the west coast, but the entire province,"

Holmen Completes Job Talks at Braviken

http://www.holmen.com/

Holmen has finalized discussions with employee representatives regarding job cuts at its Braviken mill in Norrköping in Sweden, linked to the closure of the mill's PM 51. As a result, 168 jobs will be lost, instead of the 180 envisaged when the shutdown was announced in March.

The firm did not comment on how many of the 168 positions to be cut will be white-collar and blue-collar jobs. Holmen plans to close the 200,000 tonne/yr newsprint machine in the third quarter, but did not offer a more exact closure date.
Holmen also plans to shut down the 140,000 tonne/yr supercalendered paper PM 3 at its Hallsta mill in Sweden during the second half of this year. This was announced in October last year and the company then thought it would lead to some 230 job cuts.

BlackRock's Holding in UPM Over 5%

BlackRock's holding in UPM has gone above the threshold of 5 per cent:
Kymmene Corporation Stock Exchange Release 18 April 2013 at 17.00 EET UPM-Kymmene Corporation has on 18 April 2013 received an announcement under Chapter 9, Section 5 of the Securities Markets Act, according to which BlackRock, Inc.'s indirect holding in UPM has gone above the threshold of 5 per cent on 17 April 2013. According to the announcement, the indirect holding of BlackRock, Inc. (USA Tax ID 32-0174421, SEC CIK Code#: 0001364742) in UPM has increased from 26,405,469 shares to 27,148,467 shares, corresponding to 5.141 per cent of UPM's shares and voting rights.

Nippon Paper to Build Biomass Plant

Nippon Paper to build biomass plant

The first project of its kind in Japan

Nippon Paper Industries has decided to implement a biomass power generation project using 100% unused woody materials, making it the first project of its kind in Japan. New wood biomass power generation facilities will be constructed at the Yatsushiro Mill (Yatsushiro, Kumamoto) and launched as a new energy business from spring 2015.

Postmaster General Urges Congress to Provide Flexibility

Postmaster General Urges Congress to Provide Delivery Schedule Flexibility to Address Broken Business Model: WASHINGTON - Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told a House committee today that the Postal Service is currently operating with a broken business model and the gap between revenues and costs will only get worse in the coming years unless the laws that govern the Postal Service are changed.
“Our financial problems are due to the restrictive laws that prevent us from fully responding to changes in consumer behavior,” Donahoe testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Online Sales Tax Bill Readied for Vote in Senate

http://www.sfgate.com/business/bloomberg/article/Online-Sales-Tax-Bill-Being-Readied-for-Vote-in-4442522.php

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is “looking at” scheduling a bill that would let states collect taxes on out-of-state sellers as the next issue on lawmakers’ agenda after pending gun legislation.

Reid, who controls the flow of legislation to the U.S. Senate’s floor, indicated in a brief interview today in Washington that he hadn’t made a decision yet. A vote on the sales tax measure could come as early as next week, said a Senate Democratic aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The bill, backed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., would let states collect some of the $24 billion in revenue they lose to untaxed sales made by retailers with no physical presence in their states. EBay Inc. and anti-tax groups such as Americans for Tax Reform oppose the measure.

Nielsen Study Finds Newspaper Ads Engage Consumers

http://www.naa.org/News-and-Media/Press-Center/Archives/2013/National-Engagement-Study-Finds-Newspaper-Media-Have-Most-Engaging-Content-and-Advertising.aspx

Today, the Newspaper Association of America released the findings of a landmark study by Nielsen that compares the ability of major media, including television, radio and social media, to engage audiences. The study looks at consumer engagement with media content – and importantly, compares each medium’s ability to engage consumers with advertising. This side-by-side advertisement scoring will aid marketers and agencies in assessing media by their ability to engage consumers who seek and respond to advertising not just by audience numbers alone.  
Key findings from the study include that newspaper media – print and online – scored the highest of all media on overall engagement. Where newspapers and their websites stood out most was in the efficacy of advertising.

Global Marketing Continues Growth

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130418/ADVERTISING13/304189997/warc-global-marketing-conditions-show-gains

Global marketing budgets, trading conditions and staffing levels continue to experience growth, according to marketing information company Warc, with its Warc Global Marketing Index rising to 52.9 in April, up from 52.4 in March.

A GMI reading of 50 represents no change in global marketing conditions. A score of 60 indicates rapid growth, and a score below 50 marks a decline. The Americas continues to be the most positive region, with a GMI budget level of 54.8, with Asia-Pacific at 53.3 and Europe holding steady at 50.5.

The Atlantic to Introduce Paywall

http://paidcontent.org/2013/04/17/the-atlantic-is-going-to-launch-a-paid-content-offering-soon/

The Atlantic will launch a paid product within the next two or three weeks, a News Corp. is touting paywalls as “courageous,” and ProPublica wants to have paywall-free nonprofit journalism in every city. 

The Atlantic Magazine has long resisted the idea of a paywall, but Atlantic Media President Justin Smith revealed at GigaOM’s paidContent Live 2013 conference in New York Wednesday that the company is about to launch a paid product within the next two or three weeks.

Time to Publish Special Edition on Boston

http://tabtimes.com/news/media/2013/04/17/time-publish-free-tablet-only-magazine-boston-tragedy

Time magazine has revealed that it will publish a tablet-only edition on the Boston Marathon attack tomorrow. The digital magazine will be available free on iPad, Nook, Android and Kindle devices.

In Washington, End of White Pages

http://www.columbian.com/news/2013/apr/17/phone-companies-no-longer-have-print-directories-w/

The once-useful, once-necessary, once-ubiquitous White Pages will soon be no more — unless you really want one.
State regulators Tuesday ended a requirement that local telephone companies annually deliver printed directories to all their Washington customers. 
The change is expected to remove more than 300 tons of unwanted paper directories from waste and recycling bins annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 4,000 tons and saving local governments hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in waste-processing costs, according to a release from the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.

William Gibbons to Print The Scots Magazine

William Gibbons to print relaunched The Scots Magazine:
West Midlands-based William Gibbons & Sons Ltd will print the magazine, taking over from Polestar Bicester, which printed the magazine for two years. Both printers also print a number of other titles for DC Thomson, the company that publishes the magazine.
A DC Thomson spokeswoman would not disclose how much the new two-year contract for The Scots Magazine with William Gibbons was worth.

Skateboarder Magazine Emphasizes Digital

Skateboarder Magazine Goes Digital-First: Skateboarder Magazine isn't abandoning print altogether, but--not surprisingly for a young, male enthusiast title--it's going to concentrate a lot more on digital from now on.

Performance of Response Call Centers

A Tale of Two Direct Response Call Centers: Early in 2012, buyCalls decided to get to the bottom of the issue by testing one of the high-performing call centers, Center A, against one of the lower performers, Center B.  BuyCalls put them on the same security company account and randomly split responses 50-50 between the two. After a few months of testing, Center B showed its stripes. It closed at a rate six percentage points lower than Center A. Their initial testing was through internal IVRs hosted on site at the call centers, though, and there was some back and forth mix up between identifying Centers A and B. Management at Call Center B argued that the comparison was invalid.

Folio: People On The Move

People On The Move | 04.18.13:  Peggy Northrop has been named editor-in-chief of Time Inc.’s Sunset magazine. She will replace Kitty Morgan, who took on the role just over a year ago. Northrop boasts an impressive resume having worked at Reader’s Digest, Meredith and Rodale.
Reader’s Digest has named Lauren Gniazdowski as assistant managing editor. Gniazdowski was previously assistant editor at the publication
Peter Land has been named senior vice president of communications at AOL. Land was previously head of communications at PepsiCo.
Access Intelligence, parent company of FOLIO:, has named Michael Grossman as vice president and group publisher of its Energy and Information group. Grossman was previously with Penwell, where he was vice president of its transmission and distribution group.

Quad/Graphics to Hire 125 at New Berlin (WI) Facility

Quad/Graphics to Hire 125 at New Berlin (WI) Facility: Quad/Graphics Inc. will hire about 125 full- and part-time employees at its new facility in New Berlin (WI), The Business Journal has learned. About 150 employees will work at the facility, said Quad/Graphics spokeswoman Claire Ho