MPA President/CEO Nina Link Stepping Down

MPA President and CEO Nina Link Stepping Down End of 2012: The MPA announced today that its president and CEO, Nina Link, will be stepping down at the end of the year. Link has held the position for 13 years, longer than any MPA president in the organization's 93-year history.

http://www.foliomag.com/2012/nina-link-discusses-her-departure-mpa
Nina Link discusses her departure from MPA, says association is in “execution stage” of a rebranding, reorganization.

Transcontinental Income Declines, Revenues Increase

Transcontinental Posts Income Declines, Revenues Increase: Transcontinental Inc. increased its revenues by 6 percent in the second quarter, from $498.7 million to $529.4 million, driven primarily by the acquisition of Quad/Graphics Canada, as well as numerous acquisitions.

Outlook for Global RCP Markets

Outlook for Global Recovered Paper Markets: World recovered paper demand has grown by around 70 million tonnes (45%) in the last ten years (2001-11). Asian demand represents the majority of this growth, increasing by about 60 million tonnes. China alone registered a 260% recovered paper demand growth, fuelled by its fast growing paper and board demand, especially on the recycled paper and board side.

US Commercial Printing Shipments Down

April US Commercial Printing Shipments Down -3.4%; Shipments Down 12 of Last 13 Months (Economics & Research Center)
April 2012 U.S. commercial printing shipments were $6.672 billion in current dollars. For perspective, in April 2008, current dollar shipments were $8.636 billion, nearly $2 billion more, at a time when social media was gaining steam, the iPhone was just another gadget, and the iPad was barely a rumor.

Direct Marketing Gets Eco-Friendly

http://www.delivermagazine.com/2012/05/way-of-the-future-direct-marketing-gets-eco-friendly/
Can direct marketers continue to send direct mail in bulk and still be considered environmentally friendly? In short, the answer is an emphatic yes. Going green and direct mail are not mutually exclusive. In fact, direct marketers are increasingly partnering with innovative, eco-friendly companies and yielding excellent response rates and increased ROI.

Kruger Workers Face Deadline at Corner Brook

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/06/05/nl-krugerunion-605.html
Workers at the Corner Brook paper mill are now facing a deadline after Kruger released a statement saying an agreement between them and the company must be reached by mid-June. The company says the future of the mill will come down to a new deal and the support of the workers.

NY Mag Extends Online Service

http://www.minonline.com/news/NYMag-com-Launches-Ask-a-Best-Doctor-Advice-Series_20593.html
New York magazine is extending its franchise “Best Doctors” annual with a persistent online service, “Ask a Best Doctor.” New York says that online health and medical advertising has more than doubled in the last year for NYMag.com, and the category is up 40% in the print magazine.

McGraw-Hill To Relaunch Aviation Week

McGraw-Hill to relaunch Aviation Week brand in print, mobile: McGraw-Hill Cos.' Aviation Week plans to relaunch its flagship brand, Aviation Week & Space Technology, with the July 2 issue of the print publication. The brand will also be relaunched on mobile platforms.

Many Mobile Users Keep Newspapers Subs

http://printinthemix.com/Fastfacts/Show/571
According to a survey conducted by the Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the University of Missouri, despite two-thirds of U.S. adults using at least one mobile media device in their daily lives, users of these mobile devices "are not abandoning print media at a faster rate than non-users of mobile devices."

Print Readership Growing With Millenials

http://www.responsemagazine.com/direct-response-marketing/news/print-readership-growing-among-millenials-4539?utm_source=RM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Response-Week_06_06_2012&utm_content=print-readership-growing-among-millenials-4539
In a positive boost to print advertisers, magazine readership among millennials is actually growing, according to a new study from Conde Nast. While many brands and publications alike often assume that millennials sacrifice print for whatever is on their iPads, smartphones or computer screens, print magazine readership among 18- to 24-year-olds is actually the highest it’s ever been, reported Conde Nast, who conducted a similar study six years ago as well.

 

B-to-B Ad Pages Drop

BIN: B-to-b ad pages drop in February: Ad pages in b-to-b publications dropped 6.86% in February compared with February 2011, according to Business Information Network data released by American Business Media. For the first two months of the year, ad pages were down 5.87% compared with the year-earlier period.

Verso Resumes Control of Sartell Warehouse

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120604/NEWS01/306040042/Verso-resumes-control-of-warehouse?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE
Firefighters today transferred authority for most of the Verso Paper warehouse back to the company, one week after an explosion and fire left one worker dead and four people injured. The explosion area remains under the control of investigators.

Kruger Corner Brook Newsprint Mill In Jeopardy

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2012/06/04/nl-dunderdale-kruger-meeting-604.html
The head of the company that owns Corner Brook Pulp and Paper finished a sombre meeting with Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale Monday evening with a grim warning about the mill's future."I'm leaving St. John's. I'm very concerned about the mill," Kruger Inc. chairman Joseph Kruger told reporters as he concluded a meeting at Confederation Building.
After the meeting, Dunderdale suggested the fate of the operation — the only newsprint mill still operating in Newfoundland and Labrador — may depend on what the company can negotiate with its unionized workers.

Transcontinental Renews Multiyear Agreements

Transcontinental Has Renewed Agreements Valued at More Than $1.5 Billion: Transcontinental Inc. announced that, since January, it has renewed and expanded six multiyear agreements valued at more than $1.5 billion in revenues with major Canadian retail customers in the food, hardware, consumer goods and pharmaceutical verticals. These customers are both from the client base it added through its Quad/Graphics Canada acquisition and its own long-standing customer base.

Capitalizing On 2012 USPS Discount Promotion

Capitalizing on the 2012 USPS Mobile Barcode Promotion:
For the second straight summer, the United States Postal Service is offering a discount to companies that include a mobile barcode on their mailings.

RCP Prices Expected To Remain High Through 2016

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/05/4538821/recovered-paper-prices-expected.html
Over the next five years, recovered paper demand, particularly in fiber-poor regions such as China and India, will continue to grow. At the same time, supply coming from North America and Europe will be flat or even diminish; creating a shortage that will keep prices high.

Why Magazines Deserve More Ad Revenue

http://adage.com/article/small-agency-diary/magazines-growing-ad-revenue-deserve/235168/
There's a separation of perception and reality in our industry that needs to be cleared up. Most ad agencies and clients are unfairly bundling magazines with newspapers in the print category, and as a result, magazines are having a difficult time selling advertising. This, at a time when their readership is actually increasing among younger adults.

Mobile Slow To Replace Print Newspapers

http://www.futurity.org/society-culture/mobile-slow-to-replace-print-newspapers/
Mobile news products do not appear to be replacing printed newspapers as quickly as was earlier predicted, a new survey shows."Forty percent of mobile device users indicated in our survey that they still subscribe to printed newspapers and news magazines. This percentage was almost identical for non-users of mobile devices," says Roger Fidler, the program director for digital publishing at RJI. (Credit: Brendan Lynch/Flickr)

Stephen King To Only Offer Novel In Book Form

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18278719
Author Stephen King will initially release his forthcoming novel Joyland in paper form only, despite being an early pioneer of the e-book market.The Carrie author became the first best-selling writer to release his work exclusively over the internet in 2000.

Might Be Weeks Before Restart of Sartell

http://wjon.com/sartell-paper-plant-manager-too-early-to-tell-when-verso-might-re-open/

The plant manager of the crippled Verso paper mill in Sartell says it will be a week or more before they know when the plant might re-open.

Matt Archambeau told reporters at a news briefing this morning it's too early to say what's needed in order to re-open the plant.

Men’s Health Adds App

Men’s Health Preps iPhone Magazine App: On the heels of Adobe’s Content Viewer debut, Rodale’s Men’s Health brings its content to the iPhone. Though the publication already has a portfolio of one-off apps available for the platform, the latest iPhone app will include the magazine’s monthly offering in its entirety.

Good Magazine Reports Cuts

Good Cuts Most of its Edit Team: Good—self-described as the magazine "for people who give a damn"—has laid off at least five editorial staffers, including executive editor Ann Friedman, the day after holding a launch party for its newest issue.

Verizon Continues Cutting of Printed Books

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/verizon-continues-program-end-automatic-125400048.html

Verizon is well on its way toward ending the automatic delivery of printed residential white pages directories in California. Through the end of May, the company has ceased automatic delivery of 33 of the 44 residential editions in the discontinuation program. When completed in October, the discontinuation program is expected to keep out of the California waste stream approximately 1,900 tons of paper per year.

Penton Launches WealthManagement

Penton Launches New Wealth Management Website:  B-to-b media company Penton has launched a new website targeting the wealth management market called, appropriately enough, WealthManagement.com.
Those two brands are also supported by print titles—Registered Rep. and Trusts & Estates. Registered Rep. will changed its name to REP. and both titles, effective with the June issues, will become "units" of WealthManagement.com.

IP Selling 3 Containerboard Mills

Int'l Paper Selling 3 Mills for $470 Million:

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

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120531/NEWS01/305300027/Crews-begin-removing-paper-from-Verso-mill

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

http://www.dmnews.com/report-list-rental-prices-continue-to-drop/article/243719/

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

http://risnews.edgl.com/retail-best-practices/Container-Store-Targets-Customer-Groups-with-Themed-Digital-Catalogs80432?rssid=Article80432

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.

NewPage Port Hawkesbury Granted Extension

NewPage Port Hawkesbury granted extension:
In court this morning, Justice John Murphy approved another extension to NewPage Port Hawkesbury‘s period of creditor protection.
But the judge expressed concern about possible delays getting the purchase deal with Pacific West Commercial Corp. done by September.
This extension is for 2 more months.
NewPage Port Hawkesbury will return to court on August 1.

AF&PA Reports April Paper & Board Production

http://www.afandpa.org/

US paper and board production in April declined 2.5% vs April 2011 production and was down year-to-date by 1.2%, based on American Forest & Paper Association figures.

The April decline resulted from a 3.2% drop in paper production and 2% fall in paperboard production.

Year-to-date, uncoated mechanical paper production was down 16.2% and coated papers down 5%.

US mills year-to-date ran at an average of 91.2%, in line with the 2011 average.

Catalyst Asks Goverment for Support

http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=6276077&sponsor=

 Kevin J. Clarke, president and CEO of Catalyst Paper is asking Victoria and Ottawa for it's support. " Catalyst delivers 7,000 jobs in B.C., and has a $2 billion impact a year." The company is asking the B.C. government to support North Cowichan's efforts to achieve a competitive industrial tax rate, to make available $30 million over five years to support new hiring and high-tech training programs at Catalyst mills. It's asking Victoria for support in ensuring certainty in BC Hydro rates and to eliminate the $8 million per year risk to Catalyst operations and Ottawa to return to Catalyst the $5.5 million each month in HST credits that are normally returned to the company but that are now frozen under CCAA.

Verso Still Assessing Sartell Damage

 http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/apArticle/id/D9V2NO8O2/

The future of a paper mill that's one of the main employers and taxpayers in the central Minnesota town of Sartell was unclear Tuesday as firefighters spent a second day trying to extinguish a fire that killed one worker and injured four.

The fire broke out Monday with an explosion in a warehouse at the Verso Paper Corp. mill. The warehouse held nearly 4,000 rolls of paper, each weighing hundreds of pounds. Firefighters Tuesday still were trying to get to the burning rolls at the back of the building.

The building is unstable and structural beams are resting on top of paper rolls, Fire Chief Ken Heim said. "We have a massive challenge ahead of us," Heim said during a news conference.

However, Heim also said he didn't think the rest of the plant was damaged.

The plant is so important to the area that Gov. Mark Dayton visited the site Tuesday.

New York Magazine & Dwell Partner

http://www.foliomag.com/2012/new-york-and-dwell-partner-upcoming-print-publication-event

In a collaboration that will play out in person and in print, New York and Dwell partner to bring design to a greater audience. The partnership aims to expand both Dwell’s and New York’s footprints in the New York City design scene, as well as to aid the American Institute of Architects [AIA] in reaching the consumer market.

Magazine Readership by Young People Actually Up

http://www.adweek.com/print/140850

It’s a fairly common assumption that millennials don’t read print media because they’re all too busy browsing blogs, clicking on Facebook links, and watching YouTube videos to crack open a physical magazine. Well, a new study from Condé Nast says young people's magazine readership is actually the highest it's been in decades. 

Consumer Magazine Readership Declines

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/175861/magazine-print-readership-declines-digital-grows.html

Consumer magazines’ print readership declined over the last year, but the losses were partly offset by growth in digital readership, according to GfK MRI, which recently released the second wave of its revised Survey of The American Consumer, amended to include more questions about digital reading.

In the period from September 2011-April 2012, the total average print audience of 190 major titles tracked by GfK MRI came to just over 1.2 billion, down 2.7% from 1.24 billion for the same period in 2011. When print and digital editions are considered together, the figure sank 2.6% from just under 1.25 billion to just under 1.22 billion.