Online Sales Taxes Coming to More States

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303644004577525070594717752.html

Conservative governors, joining their Democratic counterparts, have been making deals with online retail giant Amazon.com AMZN +0.59% to collect state sales taxes. The movement picked up an important ally when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—widely mentioned as a potential vice-presidential candidate—recently reached an agreement under which Amazon would collect sales taxes on his state's online purchases in exchange for locating distribution facilities there. 

The move toward taxing online sales has broad implications. Online shopping will become more expensive for consumers. Brick-and-mortar retailers won't have the price disadvantage they now have compared with online sellers. Strapped states suddenly could be flush with $23 billion in new annual revenue, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

http://uspolitics.einnews.com/pr_news/105544222/michigan-retailers-calls-on-state-treasurer-to-send-sales-tax-bill-to-amazon

The Michigan Retailers Association (MRA) today called on State Treasurer Andy Dillon to follow the law and his department's own guidelines by sending a bill to online giant Amazon for sales tax owed the State of Michigan.

Hearst's Esquire Goes to Singapore

http://www.hearst.com/

Hearst Magazines International (HMI), a unit of Hearst Corporation, today announced the launch of Esquire in Singapore starting with the September issue, on newsstands September 1. 

American City & Country Tries New Technique

Penton Title Sees Success With Virtual Events:  Penton Media’s American City & County magazine, a monthly b-to-b publication serving the state and local government markets, is driving audience development and ROI with virtual events. The title’s State and Local Government Summit, which launched five years ago, is delivering a variety of paid sponsorships and cultivating valuable connections with readers.

American Media Names Digital Officer

http://adage.com/article/media/american-media-names-digital-chief-plans-60-hires/236042/

American Media Inc., the publisher of magazines including Star and Shape, has named Joe Bilman its first chief digital officer as part of a new plan for digital media that calls for adding 60 employees and spending $30 million over three years.

Harte-Hanks President Leaving

http://www.dmnews.com/harte-hanks-president-of-direct-marketing-departs/article/250660/

Gary Skidmore, EVP and president of direct marketing at Harte-Hanks, Inc. is leaving the company, according to a company statement. 

In a release, Harte-Hanks stated that Skidmore's last day with the company will be July 31, 2012, and that the current chairman and CEO of Harte-Hanks, Larry Franklin will be taking over the agency's direct marketing business.

QR Codes Not Meeting Expectations

Study: QR codes aren't delivering customer needs: QR codes, the most common of the mobile barcode formats, have not fulfilled their promise in connecting with large audiences, according to a report by consultancy eMarketer. the study reveals that QR code users want deals and discounts, while brands want to deliver information. Most users only scan a QR code once and afterward forgo the practice, the company said.

Court Extends Credit Protection to NP Port Hawkesbury

NewPage Port Hawkesbury granted extension to creditor protection period:
The Nova Scotia Supreme Court has granted NewPage Port Hawkesbury another extension to their creditor protection period.
The mill now has until August 31, 2012 to wrap up the sale and transfer of the mill’s assets to Pacific West Commercial Corp.

Resolute Dispute with Algonquin Nation Threatens Logging

Resolute Forest Products logging under heavy police presence at Barriere Lake:
Montreal riot police have been sent 5 hours north of Montreal to the area where the Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake are protesting Resolute Forest Products‘ logging activity.
For the past 2 weeks, members of the Algonquin First Nations of Barriere Lake have been camping out along the roadside at Poigan Lake where the logging is occurring. Today, members of the Algonquin community are moving their protest camp site closer to logging operations to prevent further cutting.
The police are escorting the loggers to their job site and have threatened to arrest members of the Barrier Lake community if they interfere. The Algonquin First Nations of Barriere Lake insist the Quebec government has granted a harvesting license to Resolute Forest Products without the Algonquin community’s consent or consultation, and in violation of the Trilateral Agreement the Quebec government signed with Barriere Lake in 1991.

Quebec Releases Forest Sector Plan

Quebec releases new 2012-2017 Forest Sector Transformation Strategy:
Quebec‘s new 2012-2017 Forest Sector Transformation Strategy was unveiled Monday by the Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune (MRNF).
The Strategy aims to adapt and strengthen the province’s forest sector by diversification, innovation, and adaptation.  The Strategy recognizes that markets are changing at a rapid pace and Quebec’s forest industry is at a race against time to compete against competitors that adapt quickly to new realities.
Over the 2012-2017 timespan, the Government of Quebec has earmarked $268 million to implement the Strategy.
The full version of the 2012-2017 Strategy to transform the forest products industry in Quebec is available at the following address: www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/fr/forets/strategie-2012-2017 (French only).

PaperlinX Selling Some Assets, CEO Steps Down

PaperlinX CEO Toby Marchant is leaving the company. In addition, the firm announced it has entered into the following agreements:

• to sell its operations in Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia to the Heinzel Group for €19.6m. The sale price represents a multiple of approximately 10x EBITDA and is A$2m above book value. Net proceeds after debt and transaction costs are expected to be approximately €17.5m (A$21m);
• to sell its loss-making operations in South Africa to local management. Net proceeds of ZAR50m (A$6m) will include A$3m repayment of parent company funding and A$3m purchase consideration for the shares, representing a loss of approximately A$2m against book value.

Metsä Board Increases Woodfree Prices

Metsä Board will increase the price for all woodfree uncoated paper products by 6-8% across all European markets. The new prices will take effect from September 2012.

Paper manufacturers are seeing their margins erode further as the cost of raw materials continues to rise. Whilst these inflationary pressures persist the industry is struggling to deal with ever decreasing margins.

OpenGate Sells 10% of Finish Mill to Powerflute

OpenGate Capital LLC Sells a Share of Kotkamills Oy to Powerflute Oyj:
OpenGate Capital, a private investment and acquisition company, and the owner of Kotkamills Oy, announced today that it has sold a minority share (10%) of Kotkamills Oy to Powerflute Oyj. Powerflute is a forest products industry company operating a paper mill in Finland.

May Retail Sales Fall

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/aggregatedcontent/retail-purchases-us-unexpectedly-decrease-05
Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly fell for a third month in June as limited employment gains took a toll on consumers. The 0.5 percent drop followed a 0.2 percent decrease in May, Commerce Department figures showed. The decline exceeded the most pessimistic forecast in a Bloomberg News survey that called for a median 0.2 percent gain in sales. Other reports today showed manufacturing in the New York region picked up this month and U.S. inventories increased in May.

Two Sides New Campaign

Paper Love (Going Green):
Across the pond, our friends at Two Sides UK have recently launched a new campaigntargeted at consumers that promotes “attractiveness and sustainability of print media.” The “No Wonder You Love Paper” campaign is jointly undertaken by Two Sides and UK magazine and newspaper publishers, and includes the new Web sitehttp://www.youlovepaper.info/UK.

Transcontinental Sells Book Printing Assets

Transcontinental sells its book printing assets: After reviewing its business plan and long-term strategic objectives, Transcontinental Inc. today announced that it is selling its book printing assets, namely Transcontinental Gagné printing plant in Louiseville and Transcontinental Métrolitho printing plant in Sherbrooke, to Marquis Book Printing Inc., in Cap-Saint-Ignace, which specializes in book printing.

Pacific West Wants Post Hawkesbury Running in September

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/90810--pacific-west-wants-the-keys-to-shuttered-newpage-mill-by-aug-31-says-monitor

The prospective buyer of a shuttered paper mill in Cape Breton is eager to get the deal wrapped up by Aug. 31 to avoid missing a lucrative season for paper orders, the court-appointed monitor handling the sale said Thursday.

Mathew Harris of Ernst & Young said Vancouver-based Pacific West Commercial Corp. could get the NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill back in operation immediately if all goes as planned.

"Pacific West really needs to get this going by the first of September because it's the key season for placing orders for (supercalendered) paper," Harris said in an interview.

Catalyst Pays Tax Bill

http://www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/local/story.html?id=f1d8abb7-80d6-4ea8-94eb-8bdfd207d3c3

Catalyst Paper paid its entire property tax on June 29 to the tune of $4,214,654 of which, $3,813,210 is municipal taxes that go directly into City coffers.

The payment came days after Catalyst got approval from its creditors for a restructuring plan that should see the Port Alberni mill stay open.

NewPage Escanaba Celebrates 100

NewPage celebrates 100th anniversary of Escanaba paper mill in Upper Michigan: The Escanaba Paper Company, a subsidiary of NewPage Corporation, announced today that it is celebrating a century of making pulp in Escanaba, Michigan.

www.nola.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/escanaba-oks-15-million-sale-of-city/ca95e2d159554f1f8238d57b26517fd3

Separately, it was reported that  t he Escanaba City Council has approved the sale of the municipal coal-fired power plant for $1.5 million to a private local company.

The company plans to convert the power plant to burn biomass.

Escanaba has been working for five years to find a use for the aging and inefficient plant.

Stora Enso Restarts Langerbrugge Rebuilt SC PM

StoraEnso Langerbrugge - PM 3 Press Rebuild Start up: Stora Enso Langerbrugge Mill, located in Gent, Belgium started up their PM #3 with new Press Section.
PMT Italia S.p.A supplied, installed and started up the new Press Section. The PM3, a 6,5 m wide machine producing SC paper, has been rebuilt by partly replacing the existing Press Section steel framework with a completely new stainless steel one, giving PM3 a longer life time and providing the necessary flexibility for future implementations as well as pressing technology upgrades.
This new project, developed by PMT, represents the confirmation of the market
perception of PMT Italia as a reliable supplier amongst the leading paper
machinery producers.
(PMT Italia S.p.A.)

Allure Expands Multi-Platform, Adds Pinterest

Allure Expands Annual Mobilized ‘Free Stuff’ Issue, Adds Pinterest Promo: While many magazines only started this year to embrace the mobile 2D code technique of activating print with smartphones, Allure is already in its third year of a massive annual multi-platform project. The August ‘Free Stuff’ Issue appears this week... Last year the issue attracted over 575,000 scans and 830,000 entries.

Q2 Consumer Magazine Ad Pages Fall

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/178352/magazine-ad-pages-take-another-hit.html?print

Spring brought no relief for consumer magazines, with total ad pages declining 8.5% from 44,795 in the second quarter of 2011 to 40,969 in the second quarter of 2012, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. Total advertising revenues, based on official rate cards, slipped 3.2% from $5.7 billion to $5.5 billion.
Losses were widespread, with 140 out of 217 consumer magazine titles tracked by PIB (or 64.5% of the total) experiencing ad page declines; 76 titles, or 35% of the total, experiencing ad page declines of 10% or more, while 34 titles, or 15.7% of the total, experienced ad pages declines of 20% or more.

Heidelberg Reports Q1 Financials

Heidelberg Reports Positive Q1 Preliminary Figures: Thanks to a good showing at drupa trade fair, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) has made a positive start to financial year 2012/2013 (April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013). Based on preliminary calculations, incoming orders for the first quarter increased to some EUR 890 million (previous year EUR 665 million) - their highest level for four years.

Frank Romano on Digital Printing

It’s a Wild New Digital Printing Landscape, Folks:
Frank Romano. Professor Emeritus at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology), author of over 50 books and founder of eight publications speaking at PBI. Excerps from interview on digital printing:
1. Talk a little bit about nanographic printing technology, which was introduced at this year’s Drupa.
...It uses very small particles that lay down an ink thickness thinner than offset and can print on virtually any substrate.
2. What are some of the trends in digital printing reproduction over the last year?
A year is an eon in technology development. In the last few months there were 32 announcements involving digital printing.
3. Explain some of the differences in major digital presses.
First, there is toner... Second, there is inkjet...The big news at Drupa was Landa nanographic printing.
We can then categorize digital printing into toner and inkjet.
Then into sheet and roll devices.
Then into special substrates or standard substrates.
Then into document or packaging.
4. Are there any general rules to decide which press best suits a customer?
There are no rules for anything in printing any more..
5. Does it really matter which press you choose?
As a print buyer, the choice of device will be based on print quality, substrate acceptability...

Measuring ROI of Social Media

Creative Group survey finds measuring social media top challenge: The top challenge for marketers implementing social media is measuring ROI, according to a survey by the Creative Group, a staffing service for marketing agencies.

More Pressure on Congress; USPS Can't Make 8/1 Payments Due

USPS Default on August 1 Appears Likely: Under a schedule laid out in the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the Postal Service is also supposed to make a $5.6 billion payment into the retiree health fund at the end of September. “Without congressional action, we will default on both payments,” USPS spokesman Dave Partenheimer said in an email Thursday.

Stora Enso Reports Q2 Results

Stora Enso's Non-Recurring Items in Second Quarter 2012:
Stora Enso will record non-recurring items with a positive net impact of approximately EUR 45 million on operating profit and a positive impact of approximately EUR 10 million on financial items in its second quarter 2012 results.

Twin Rivers Gets Madawaska Tax Break

http://www.sjvalley-times.com/view/full_story/19286531/article-Madawaska-offers-valuation-reduction-to-Twin-Rivers?instance=latest_articles

Madawaska town selectmen voted unanimously on Monday evening, July 9, to offer a reduction in property valuation to Twin Rivers Paper Company totaling $25 million, according to Donald Chasse, chair of the town's board of selectmen.
Since August of last year, the company, which owns the paper manufacturing facilities in Madawaska and Edmundston, New Brunswick, has been trying to lower its property taxes by having its property valuation adjusted downwards.

UPM Selling Timberlands

UPM has signed a contract with funds advised by Latifundium to sell them about 7,200 hectares of forest land in Finland. The estates are located in Ilomantsi, Pihtipudas and Tervo. The contract covers a long term wood purchase and forest management agreement.

White Birch to Reopen Stadacona

White Birch Paper Company today announced that it plans to reopen the Stadacona newsprint mill in Quebec City on August 2nd, which has been closed since December 9th, 2011. The announcement comes after several months of joint efforts with the Government of Quebec and the Syndicat canadien des communications, de l'énergie et du papier (SCEP) Unionized employees, to obtain a sustainable operating plan.

Appleton & Hicks Call Off Deal

Appleton Papers Inc. ("Appleton") and Hicks Acquisition Company II, Inc. (HACII) (HKAC), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Thomas O. Hicks, announced they have agreed to discontinue their proposed business combination.

Separately, it was reported that Appleton Papers Inc. announced has terminated its previously announced consent solicitation with respect its 10.50% Senior Secured Notes due 2015 (the "Senior Notes") and its 11.25% Second Lien Notes due 2015 (the "Second Lien Notes" and, together with the Senior Notes, the "Notes") and will not accept any consents provided by any of holders of the Notes.

CEP Locals Reach Agreement with Domtar

CEP Locals in Dryden reach tentative agreements with Domtar:
Three new tentative agreements were reached Wednesday covering over 500 members from CEP Locals 105-1, 105-3 and 324 at Domtar‘s Pulp Mill and Woodlands Operations in Dryden, Ontario.
Stephen Boon, CEP national representative stated, “after almost 40 days of fairly challenging negotiations over the last 9 months, we are pleased to have finally reached new tentative agreements with Domtar that we are able to bring back and recommend to our Mill and Woodlands Members in Dryden and Ear Falls.”

2016 Print Market Forecast at $845 Billion

http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120712006006/en/digital-print/packaging/print

The global market for print, and printed packaging, was valued at $791 billion in 2011 and is forecasted to be worth $845 billion by 2016 according to Smithers Pira...As print buyers become ever more creative with integrated promotional campaigns, providers of printed media must broaden their horizons to retain market share.
Printed media still plays a vital role in communication with customers in B2B and B2C markets, but today’s print buyers are looking for far more than this from their solution providers.

Global Ad Spend Improving

Global Ad Spend Improving; Online Sees Greatest Rise: Nielsen finds global spending on advertising is on the rise thanks to a lift in consumer confidence and brands "looking to reconnect." Global Internet ad spend outpaces other media with double-digit growth.
Magazines saw a minor decline compared to last year, but newspapers grew 3.1% globally. In Latin America and Asia Pacific, both media grew—7.6% and 10.3%, respectively in Latin America, and 3.6% and 5.4%, respectively in Asia Pacific. North America saw nominal declines in print ad spend (-2.1% and -5.0% respectively).

Printing Industries Urges Vote on Postal Reform

Printing Industries Urges U.S. House of Representatives to Vote on Postal Reform: Responding to media reports that the U.S. House is unlikely to vote on postal reform legislation this summer, Printing Industries of America today warned of the disastrous consequences this delay would pose to the printing and graphic communications industry.

Police Report Details on Verso, Sartell Fire

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20120711/NEWS01/307110010/Reports-Verso-Paper-mill-fire-happened-after-repairs

In the hours before an explosion and fire at the Verso Paper plant that killed one employee and injured four others, the plant had been shut down to repair a leaking water pipe. It was just being brought back online when the explosion happened.

The shutdown caused the plant to switch its source of cooling water for compressors that were later cited by employees as the spot where they saw smoke and flames just before the explosion.

Russia's Entry into WTO Means Lower Tariffs

The Russian Duma, the lower house of parliament, has ratified the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). As a result, Russia can become a full WTO member in August.
The entry to the WTO will oblige Russia to lower its import tariffs, among other conditions.

On the paper and board side, Russia is set to reduce import duties for all containerboard grades by 5% to 10% by 2015-2016. Import tariffs for other packaging grades, including cartonboard and sack kraft paper, will drop from the current rate of 15% to 10% by 2015/2016.

China Reveals More Details on Closings

The Chinese government has released details of this year's campaign to wipe out outdated pulp and paper machinery, planning to retire a total capacity of 8.80 million tonnes/yr.

As of July 9, there are 588 pulp and paper firms from 23 provinces on the list detailing all the machines to be shut down.