AF&PA Reports June P&W Ships

http://www.afandpa.org/pressreleases.aspx?id=2762

According to the American Forest & Paper Association's June 2012 Printing-Writing Paper Report, total printing-writing paper shipments decreased 8% in June compared to June 2011. Shipments for coated free sheet and uncoated mechanical grades posted double-digit year-over-year decreases compared to last June. U.S. purchases (shipments + imports - exports) of printing-writing papers also decreased 8% in June. Total printing-writing paper inventory levels decreased 4% from last month, primarily due to double-digit decreases among the mechanical grade papers.

Purchases of coated mechanical (CM) papers are up slightly compared to June 2011, which is the second consecutive year-over-year increase.

Second Company Announces Yet Another Decrease

Fibrek told North American customers today its August 1 list price for northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp would decline to $850/tonne, RISI has learned.

Russia's WTO Membership Benefits Finnish Industry

Russia's WTO membership creates opportunities for Finnish forest industry
Russia's ratification of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession agreement on July 21 improves corporate access to the Russian market. Membership will lead to lower export duties on Russian raw timber and reduced import duties will improve the position of Finnish forest industry products on the Russian market, as the Finnish Forest Industries Federation (FFIF) said in a press release received by Lesprom Network.

Sappi Extends Agreement with Lenzing

http://wood.lesprom.com/news/52817/

Sappi, the world’s largest manufacturer of dissolving pulp with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons at present growing to 1.3 million tons, s intensifying its longstanding cooperation with the paper and pulp group Lenzing AG.

Scholastic Moves Weekly Reader

Scholastic Folds Weekly Reader Brands into Its Classroom Magazines:  Scholastic is folding the Weekly Reader brand into its Classroom Magazines group. Some of the resulting titles will be co-branded, while others will be discontinued. The move comes just five months after Scholastic acquired Weekly Reader from Reader's Digest Association for $3.6 million.

Harman Family Getting Out of Newsweek

Harman Family to 'Stop Investing' in Newsweek:
On Monday it was announced that family of the late Sidney Harman is freezing their 20-month investment in Newsweek/Daily Beast Co. That gives the other party, the Barry Diller-led IAC/InterActive Corp., a controlling interest that will grow as more money is put into the venture.

Ad Age Publishes Hispanic Fact Pack

http://adage.com/print/236263

Ad Age's ninth-annual Hispanic Fact Pack, distributed with the July 23 issue of the magazine, includes data about marketers, 2011 ad spending, demographic trends and rankings of top TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, online media and social-networking sites. Other rankings in the 52-page guide include the top 50 Hispanic advertisers, the 50 largest Hispanic agencies and the 15 biggest Hispanic media agencies. The digital edition of the Hispanic Fact Pack is available free at adage.com/trend-reports/ through Aug. 22, 2012, and will be available for $29 after that.

Wet Seal CEO Leaves

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/wet-seal-fires-ceo-susan-mcgalla-as-the-teen-retailers-summer-sales-sink-cuts-2q-outlook/2012/07/23/gJQA8CM53W_story.html

As sales declines deepen, teen clothing seller Wet Seal Inc. has fired CEO Susan McGalla without a replacement for her.

McGalla had been Wet Seal’s CEO since January 2011, and had signed an employment contract with the company through August 2014. Her departure is effective immediately, and the company said Monday that it is starting a search for a new CEO. In the meantime, the company’s chairman, president and chief financial officer are overseeing Wet Seal.

WSJ Adds Real Estate Section

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/179330/wsj-launches-a-real-estate-section.html

With the national residential real estate market possibly reaching its bottom, and premium markets scarcely affected by the downturn, The Wall Street Journal is calculating that the time is right for a new real estate section, which will appear on Fridays beginning in late September or early October, according to the newspaper.
The as-yet-unnamed section will be 16 pages long and will be produced by a team of up to 10 new staffers.

Yankee Candle Names Executive

http://www.dmnews.com/yankee-candle-hires-new-president-of-direct-and-cmo/article/251429/

Yankee Candle Inc. has appointed Brad Wolansky to the newly created roles of president of direct and CMO, says Karen Wood, director of PR at Yankee Candle.

River Group Launches Print/Digital Marketing Magazine

River Group launches bi-monthly 'thought leadership' printed publication:
The multi-channel publication, which is produced in a concertina format with hand drawn illustrations, will look at all areas of print and digital marketing, with the first issue tackling "generational" marketing.
River's business development director Adrian Odds said the new publication was designed to highlight the importance of content strategy in marketing. "We want to demonstrate innovation in marketing with print solutions as well as in digital," he added.
Odds said: "Print has the ability to reach across all generations - it speaks a language that digital doesn't.

Ad Agency Revenues on Upswing

Advertising Agency Changing Product Mix Keeps Revenues on an Upswing; What it Means to the Marketing Services Strategy (Economics & Research Center):
The latest Quarterly Services Survey of the Department of Commerce show that ad agency revenues continue their slow rise despite corporate cutbacks and a sluggish economy.

Stora Enso Reports Q2 & H1 Results

Stora Enso Interim Review January–June 2012: Operational EBIT at similar level to Q1 2012, lower year-on-year at EUR 141 (EUR 239) million mainly due to lower sales prices.
Cash flow from operations EUR 246 (EUR 207) million and liquidity EUR 1 240 (EUR 996) million, both stronger year-on-year.
Q2/2012 Results (compared with Q2/2011)
Sales at EUR 2 720 million were EUR 97 million lower than a year ago. Operational EBIT at EUR 141 million was EUR 98 million lower than a year ago. This represents an operational EBIT margin of 5.2% (8.5%).
Clearly lower sales prices in local currencies, mainly in paper and pulp grades, decreased operational EBIT by EUR 83 million and slightly lower deliveries and production decreased operational EBIT by EUR 14 million. Paper and board production was curtailed by 7% (6%) and sawnwood production by 6% (3%) to manage inventories.
 CEO Jouko Karvinen:
“The reality, as for most of the past five years since 2007, is that the environment is not going to get any easier. We need to double our own efforts to get through the short-term and long-term challenges. Operationally, every Business Area needs not only to complete the announced restructuring programmes, and the literally hundreds of cost and productivity improvement efforts, but also to add more of them and implement them faster. We also must and will continue to adjust our manufacturing capacity to the market demand, as we have been doing since late in the second quarter. This is crucial not only to maximise our margins with a focused market and product mix, but also to further demonstrate that we can get through the market cycles with continued solid cash generation."

BC Protects More Old Growth Forests

More old growth forest protected in British Columbia:
British Columbia is now protecting an additional 14,750 hectares of old growth forest on the Sunshine Coast.
These old growth management areas were established under the Land Act, following public consultation and discussions with First Nations, forestry companies and local stakeholders.

IP Will Close Kalamazoo

International Paper Co. announces plant to close its Kalamazoo plant; 77 jobs to be lost:
About 77 jobs will be lost when International Paper Co. closes its corrugated container plant in Kalamazoo in mid-September. "Following the merger with Temple-Inland, we have more capacity than our customers need in this area," Scott Dillon, complex general manager, stated in a press release.

Pulp Producer Announces Another Decrease

Canfor Pulp informed customers in the USA today that its northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp list price will decline to $850/tonne, effective August 1 until further notice, industry sources told RISI.

Black Liquor Tax Credits Still Have Senate Support

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/us/politics/in-black-liquor-a-cautionary-tale-for-deficit-reduction.html?ref=politics&pagewanted=print

As a member of the “Gang of Six,” Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho has emerged as something of a hero among advocates of bipartisanship, one of three conservative Republicans working with three Democrats to cut the deficit by closing loopholes that allow businesses and households to avoid paying taxes.

Yet earlier this year, the senator made sure that a $3 billion loophole — protecting “black liquor,” an alcoholic sludge used as fuel in timber mills and factories — remained open in the negotiations over the highway bill that President Obama signed this month. Many budget experts criticize the loophole as a tax dodge because it allows the sludge to qualify for an energy subsidy created to wean the country off imported oil for vehicles, which black liquor does not do.

Sales Tax Battle Continues on Federal Level

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-20/wal-mart-pushes-web-sales-tax-as-washington-clout-grows-retail.html

In its struggle against surging online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has unleashed a weapon long shunned by Sam Walton: lobbying.

On July 24, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill to let states collect sales tax from out-of-state merchants that sell to their residents. If it is passed, online retailers, which now mostly don’t collect sales tax, will lose a price advantage that has helped them take business from brick-and-mortar stores.

Wal-Mart, which has been boosting political contributions and staffing up its Washington office, is one of the prime movers behind the bill, said Congressman Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican who authored the proposed legislation.

Gap's Athleta has Agressive Strategy

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/19/v-print/2208372/gaps-athleta-appears-to-stalk.html

Last month Lululemon Athletica opened a store in Durham. Three weeks later Athleta, Gap’s answer to Lululemon, opened in the same mall.

The pattern – Lululemon store opens, Athleta shop pops up nearby – is happening nationwide as Gap mounts the most potent threat so far to the Vancouver-based competitor.

Say Media Raises $27 Million

http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/19/say-media-says-yes-to-27m-will-build-out-publishing-platform-buy-more-assets/

Another milestone for online publishing company SAY Media, just 10 days after it had announced that Time Magazine publisher Kim Kelleher would be coming on board as president in September: today it confirmed that it has raised $27 million in funding, which it will use to make acquisitions and enhance its publishing platform.