IP Closing Courtland, AL Mill, 950,000 Tons UFS, CFS

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/09_11_2013international_paper_courtland_mill_closure.html

International Paper today announced plans to permanently close its Courtland, Alabama Mill, a facility that is part of the company's Printing and Communications Papers Business.

About 1,100 employees will be impacted by the closure.
IP said the mill will shut down in stages with a full closure expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2014.
The mill closure will reduce IP's North American uncoated and coated freesheet paper production capacity by 950,000 tons, of which 765,000 is uncoated freesheet.
"These decisions are especially difficult because of the impact to long-serving and hard-working employees, their families and the surrounding communities," said International Paper Chairman and CEO, John Faraci. "This decision to permanently close capacity is primarily being driven by demand decline for uncoated freesheet paper products in the United States."
The Courtland Mill produces papers for forms, envelopes, labels, copiers, printers and magazines.
The demand for uncoated freesheet in North America has been in decline since 1999 and has recently accelerated as consumers continue to switch to electronic alternatives such as online publications and electronic billing and filing, IP noted. 

International Paper's Printing and Communications Papers Business will consist of four paper mills focused on uncoated freesheet, bristols and specialty papers markets:

Two uncoated freesheet paper mills, Eastover, South Carolina and Riverdale, Alabama.
Two specialty paper mills, Georgetown, South Carolina and Ticonderoga, New York.

IP Announces $1.5 Billion Share Repurchase Program

http://whattheythink.com/news/65334-international-paper-announces-15-billion-share-repurchase-program/

International Paper today announced its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program to acquire up to $1.5 billion of the company's common stock. The company intends to repurchase such shares over the next 2-3 years in open market repurchase transactions.  Also today, the company announced its board of directors is raising the company's quarterly dividend by 17%.

"The authorization of this repurchase program and the dividend increase reflect our continued confidence in International Paper's long-term profitability and sustainable free cash flow generation," said John Faraci, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.   "International Paper continues to be committed to a balanced use of cash in a way that maximizes value to our shareowners."

Argentina ‘Inflexible’ on Uruguayan Pulp Mill Expansion

http://en.mercopress.com/2013/09/10/argentina-inflexible-on-uruguayan-pulp-mill-expansion-cristina-and-mujica-could-meet-in-new-york

Argentina promised to be ‘inflexible” with the UPM pulp mill on Uruguayan territory, if it tries to increase production as it has requested, thus again opening a new controversy with Uruguay which has pledged to answer the (2011) expansion request in the last week of September. Presidents Cristina Fernandez and Jose Mujica are scheduled to meet in Buenos Aires at the end of the month.

and Governor Uribarri on the campaign trail
UPM mill already produces 1.1 million tons of dry pulp a year.
He added that Argentina wants UPM to invest in ‘diminishing pollution’ (yet to be proved) and “we have presented innumerable evidence that the river has been affected by the construction of the mill”
said the Argentine minister.
Timerman said that the situation created by UPM to increase pulp production in 200.000 tons per year “it not a problem between Uruguay and Argentina; what really is going on is that the company wants to put pressure on both governments, make us squabble, to increase profits with no further investments or caring for the environment to which it is obliged”.
According to Argentina UPM is already producing above the allowed limit (one million tons dry per annum) established in the International Court ruling in 2010, which decided on the case presented by Argentina with strong support from Entre Rios and Gualeguaychú.

Mailers in Talks with Postal Unions

http://www.dmnews.com/mailers-in-talks-with-postal-unions-to-forestall-rate-increase/article/311184/

During their conference call last week, members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors brought up the issue of an exigent rate increase, but chose to table it until their meeting in Kansas City on September 24-25. It was a small, but important, victory for the Affordable Mail Alliance (AMA), which had sent a letter to the Board asking it to consider the effect a rate hike might have on 8 million private sector jobs and annual related revenues of $1.3 trillion.
“The governors gave us two weeks to see if mailers and postal employees could rally to push for postal reform,” says Jerry Cerasale, SVP of government affairs at the Direct Marketing Association, a member of the AMA. “So we have been talking with all four unions and we hope that, if they see some movement in the right direction, the governors will ask for an increase based on the Consumer Price Index and not file for an exigent increase.”

Hearst U.K. Chief: ‘ABC Trends Miss the Point’

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Hearst Magazines CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine maintains that the circ trends in reporting by the U.K.’s Audit Bureau of Circulations (separate entity from North America’s AAM) “are missing all the points about the reality of what’s happening in the industry. I’d rather have an ABC decrease because we are publishing at capacity of selling good magazines, with a solid type of readership, rather than [increased circulations due to] bulk or pricing push.” The “doom and gloom” over declining circulations is misplaced, he said. He added that magazines are “the only medium in which advertising is not intrusive. A magazine without advertising is extremely boring. I like to evangelise the market. It’s much more exciting to work with us today than it was five years ago.” Hearst has been undergoing a “very Darwinian type of experience” in transforming itself to become a multiplatform business, De Puyfontaine said. 

CampaignLive

Mohawk/Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Partnership

http://www.piworld.com/article/mohawk-forms-new-partnership-with-martha-stewart-living-omnimedia/1

Mohawk, a privately-owned manufacturer of fine papers, envelopes and specialty substrates for commercial and digital printing, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., as Supporting Sponsor of the 2013 Martha Stewart American Made program.

This is the first year of Mohawk’s sponsorship and the second year of the American Made program, which celebrates artists, creative entrepreneurs and small business owners who are powering an economic resurgence in this country. Mohawk’s support of American Made aligns closely with the brand’s efforts to support an emerging maker movement. 

Private Equity Firm Buys Neiman Marcus

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-09-09/neiman-marcus-s-new-buyers-face-tough-luxury-retail-environment
Neiman Marcus Inc.’s new private-equity owners are buying a luxury chain that’s in danger of running out of room to expand in the U.S. as even well-heeled shoppers pull back.
Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board agreed today to buy the U.S. department store company from TPG Capital and Warburg Pincus LLC for $6 billion.
While Neiman has recovered some of its luster in the past year, sales remain below their 2008 peak. Many Americans are wary amid a weak economy and rather than spending on apparel are upgrading their cars and buying home-related merchandise as the U.S. housing recovery gathers momentum.

CEPI: EC EoW Proposal Fails Objectives

http://www.cepi.org/

The European Commission proposal on End-of-Waste (EoW) criteria for paper fails to address the objectives of increasing the quality and availability of paper for recycling and will have an adverse impact on making Europe a resource efficient recycling society.

Europeans are champions in paper recycling - but for how long? In 2012, 71.7% of paper consumed in Europe was recycled. Used paper has become the single most important raw material for the European paper industry with some mills being completely reliant on it for their feedstock. The Commission proposal threatens Europe's ability to maintain its recycling rates for paper, let alone improve them.

The European Commission's End-of-Waste criteria for paper move the recycling and EoW point from its current location at the paper mill to an earlier stage in the collection. As a result of this move ‘recycled paper' will be unusable without further reprocessing.

The Commission cannot demonstrate any environmental benefit for doing this. As a result the European paper industry fears the new legislation risks a lower quality of paper for recycling and poses a threat to current high levels of paper recycling. In fact, as the Waste Shipment Regulation would no longer apply, environmental impact will be negative. 

Bank of England Seeking Public Input on Switch from Paper Currency

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Pages/news/2013/103.aspx
The Bank of England is responsible for maintaining confidence in the currency, by meeting demand with good quality genuine banknotes that the public can use with confidence.  Designing new banknotes that take advantage of developments in security features is crucial to delivering this remit.  For the past three years the Bank has conducted a research project looking at the materials on which banknotes are printed.  In particular, the Bank has reviewed the relative merits of printing banknotes on polymer rather than the cotton paper as at present. 
From our research, we are confident that printing on polymer would bring considerable benefits to both the durability and quality of banknotes, while also enhancing the strong security which the public associates with Bank of England banknotes. 

Given that banknotes play a role in everyone’s day to day lives, the Bank is undertaking a public consultation programme before deciding whether to print on polymer.  As part of this programme we will be hosting a number of events across the United Kingdom over the next two months, in order to give the public an opportunity to learn more about polymer banknotes and to provide feedback before we make a final decision.