Mondi Closes Newsprint PM

http://www.mondigroup.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-349/

Mondi has permanently halted production on the 110,000 tonne/yr newsprint machine PM 4 at its Merebank mill near Durban in South Africa, which is operated by its subsidiary Mondi Shanduka Newsprint. The PM was halted in late June.

Most of the consultation process with employee representatives has been concluded, a Mondi spokesperson said, adding that since there were still a few details to finalize, she could not yet say how many employees will be let go as a result of the closure.
Mondi announced plans to close the machine in early May, due to the "ongoing decline in domestic newsprint demand and reorganization within the publishing sector." The output of PM 4 has been going solely to the South African market.

Shandong Chenming Considers New PM

http://www.risiinfo.com/pulpandpaper/news/Shandong-Chenming-mulling-over-new-350000-tonneyr-PM-at-Jiangxi-site-in-China.html?source=rssfw

Shandong Chenming Paper Holdings may build a new 350,000 tonne/yr PM at its site in Nanchang city, Jiangxi province. 

The plan was approved by the firm's board of directors last week, but needs to be greenlit by shareholders.

According to the firm, a total of around RMB 1.83 billion ($295.7 million) will be pumped into the project. Some RMB 477.47 million will be paid outright by the firm itself, and the remaining will be funded by bank loans.
A contact from Shandong Chenming said that the project is currently at a preliminary stage. A timeline has not been hammered out, and no equipment supplier has been fixed.
The source said that his firm is evaluating which grade to produce on the new machine. I
The site is operated by Shandong Chenming subsidiary Jiangxi Chenming Paper. It currently houses a 350,000 tonne/yr lightweight coated paper (LWC) unit, a 200,000 tonne/yr BCTMP line and a 150,000 tonne/yr deinking pulp line.

Chinese Pulp, RCP Imports Up

China's total pulp imports crept up 3.0% in May compared to the previous month, climbing to nearly 1.532 million tonnes, according to data from China Customs.

The May growth was due to an 8.7% increase in bleached softwood kraft (BSK) pulp imports, while intake of bleached hardwood kraft (BHK) pulp fell 7.2%.
BSK imports rose to 588,684 tonnes that month, from 541,498 tonnes in April.

Meanwhile, BHK imports dropped from 628,471 in April to 583,291 tonnes.

May's total pulp import figure was 2.5% higher than the nearly 1.495 million tonnes recorded in the same month of 2012.
Pulp imports for the first five months came to just over 6.963 million tonnes, a decrease of 4.1% from the preceding year.
China's recovered paper (RCP) imports climbed 5.1% to just over 2.798 million tonnes in May, up from almost 2.663 million tonnes in April, according to data from China Customs.
May's figure was 0.6% lower than the 2.816 million tonnes recorded in May 2012.
Total RCP imports in the first five months came in at almost 12.654 million tonnes, down 0.2% from the year-earlier period.

Carlyle Group Acquires Chesapeake

http:/ww.reuters.com/article/2013/07/03/carlyle-brief-idUSWLB003TU20130703

Global Alternative Asset Manager The Carlyle Group today announced the acquisition of Chesapeake, one of the largest global suppliers of value-added paper-based packaging products and services from Irving Place Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management.

Capital for this investment will come from Carlyle Europe Partners III L.P., a €5.3billion fund that makes mid- and large-cap investments. Further terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Neenah to Sell Gruppo Cordenons Paper

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/07_02_2013neenah_paper_gruppo_cordenons.html

Neenah Paper today announced it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Gruppo Cordenons, the Italian maker of high quality fine papers, to market and distribute all Cordenons papers to the US and Canada.

The papers will continue to be manufactured by Gruppo Cordenons at its two paper mills in Italy, the Cordenons Mill, a state of the art facility and at the Scurelle paper mill, both in Northern Italy. The papers will be available to Neenah distributors beginning September 3, 2013.

USW Says National Envelope Remains Strong

http://www.usw.org/media_center/releases_advisories?id=0722
The United Steelworkers (USW) Union is reassuring its members employed by National Envelope, as well as the company's customers and suppliers, that the union is committed to seeing the business remain strong as it works through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process.
"Our union is dedicated to ensuring that National Envelope works through this bankruptcy process to be a stronger, restructured company that is able to capitalize on market opportunities, and be a secure employer for our members and their local communities," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard.

Davler Media Group Buys New York Spaces

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/davler-media-group-buys-new-york-spaces#.UdR7G1OYyKw 
Montvale, New Jersey-based Wainscot Media, which publishes 18 regional magazines, has sold New York Spaces to Davler Media Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it includes the magazine, published 9 times per year, its website and its Top 50 Design Gala.

New York Spaces was bolstered by Wainscot's purchase of New York Home from Hour Media back in 2007 when the company folded the latter title into its existing luxury interior design magazine. Jason Kontos, who was editor-in-chief of New York Home and then New York Spaces, will continue in this role with Davler Media. Five other employees will also remain with the magazine.

Hearst's Esquire Tries Paywall

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/esquire-experiments-online-paywall-150979

For the first time, Esquire is dipping its toe into the realm of paid Web content. This morning, the Hearst Magazines title published “The Prophet,” a feature from its August issue, online—and rather than offering the entire article for free or posting a teaser to get readers to buy the magazine itself, Esquire is asking readers to pay $1.99 for the privilege of reading the article online.

SANDOW Sells Furniture Today Group

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/sandow-media-sells-furniture-today-group#.UdR7V1OYyK

SANDOW, publisher of Luxe Interiors + Design, Worth and NewBeauty, among others, announced today that it sold its Furniture Today Media Group to newly-formed FT Media Holdings, LLC.
Financial terms were not released. SANDOW's chairman and CEO Adam Sandow declined to offer any other details on a sale price, but says the group's profits grew 40 percent since the company bought the Furniture Today assets from Reed Business Information in 2010. 
The RBI deal also included Interior Design, which SANDOW will keep.

Financial Times/Wyndeham Extend Contract

http://whattheythink.com/news/64321-financial-times-extends-print-contract-wyndeham/?utm_source=whattheythink&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rs

Wyndeham Group has renewed and extended its printing contract with the Financial Times for a further three years until May 2016. This new arrangement includes additional titles moving to Wyndeham from Polestar.The portfolio, which includes the weekly Financial Adviser and monthly Money Management, will move to Wyndeham in August and will join the existing titles How to Spend It and Investors Chronicle together with other work which are currently printed at Wyndeham’s Peterborough and Heron web offset sites.

July 2, 2013 Daily News

A.T. Clayton will not be publishing the Daily News today. It will resume tomorrow. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Resolute Forest Products Sues Greenpeace

http://metronews.ca/news/canada/717861/quebec-forestry-company-suing-greenpeace-for-7-million/

A Quebec-based Resolute Forest Products Inc. is suing Greenpeace for $7 million, accusing the environmental group of defamation, malicious falsehood and intentional interference with economic relations.

In the 40-page suit filed in Ontario Superior court in late May, Resolute alleges the conservation agency has damaged the company's "business, goodwill and reputation."
The company lists multiple incidents, beginning in December 2012, where it says Greenpeace wrongly accused the company of logging in areas it shouldn't have been and not honouring the pensions of company retirees.

Transformative Sustainability: Domtar's 2020 Roadmap

http://whattheythink.com/news/64296-transformative-sustainability-year-1-progress-domtar-2020-roadmap

Domtar Corporation today released its 2012 Sustainable Growth Report, providing a Year-1 update on its 2020 sustainable business roadmap.  Progress is being tracked through a framework of 35 key performance indicators that cover the range of the Company's sustainability efforts, from increasing production efficiency and environmental footprint reductions, to promoting the development of employees, serving customers better and contributing more effectively to host communities.

The report highlights a long list of Year-1 achievements: the Company's best year on record for health and safety performance; close to 85% renewable energy use; decreasing greenhouse gas emissions intensity; and, increasing FSC^® certified fiber use.  Additional focus in the report is also given to innovations that have resulted in almost half of what was previously considered mill by-product "waste" now providing economic value through beneficial re-use; greater employee engagement around sustainable business issues; and, Domtar's deep connections to local communities.

IP Notes Sustainability Progress

http://whattheythink.com/news/64276-international-paper-announces-significant-progress-2020-sustainability-goals

International Paper published its 2012 Sustainability Report, revealing progress against its voluntary goals including certified fiber use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions, and water quality improvement. 
In 2011, International Paper announced 12 environmental and social goals that it planned to achieve by 2020.

Sappi to Divest Swaziland Assets for Rand 1 billion

http://www.sappi.com/regions/sa/group/GroupProfile/Pages/default.aspx

Sappi will part with its Usutu assets in Swaziland. The firm announced this morning that it entered into an agreement with Montigny Investments in terms of which the latter will acquire all the shares in Usutu Forest Products Company for Rand 1 billion ($101 million).

Usutu controls some 67,000 ha of softwood plantations, a decommissioned pulp mill and two villages in close proximity to the pulp mill, all located in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

US Publishers See Ongoing Growth, Including Print

http://www.publishers.org/press/111/

English-language books from US Trade sector publishers continue to flourish worldwide, especially in Europe and Asia and in expanding online international retail sales channels, according to the second annual Association of American Publishers (AAP) Export Sales Report being released today.The report also shows particular worldwide growth in US-published, English-language fiction for Adults and Young Adults.
The report examines US Trade sector (publishers of fiction and non-fiction) 2012 net sales revenue from international markets and includes data from all major consumer publishing houses. 
Total overall 2012 net revenue from non-US markets reported by publishers is $833.389 million, increasing +7.2% vs 2011. This represents 135,526 million units, a gain of +2.4% vs last year. Publishers’ net revenue from export of eBooks increased by +63% and print books by +1.3% over the same period.

Hachette Book Group to Acquire Disney's Hyperion

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/01/hachette-to-acquire-disneys-hyperion/2478859

Hachette Book Group, a division of French publishing giant Hachette Livre, says it's buying Disney's Hyperion, in a deal that will significantly expand HBG's backlist with about 1,000 books and a list of forthcoming titles from authors including actor Ethan Hawke.

Hachette Book Group did not disclose the price it's paying to acquire Hyperion, which has published more than 250 bestsellers.
Hachette Book Group CEO Michael Pietsch was quoted in a Friday statement as saying that Hyperion, with its strong non-fiction list, is a "perfect complement" to HBC.
The statement says that under the deal, Disney Publishing Worldwide is to retain Disney-Hyperion branded children and young adult titles.

Penguin/Random House Merger Completed

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/business/media/merger-of-penguin-and-random-house-is-completed.html?hp&_r=

Random House and Penguin completed their planned merger Monday morning, creating the biggest and most powerful book publisher in the world.

The new company, called Penguin Random House, will control more than 25 percent of the trade book market in the United States, giving it unmatched leverage against Amazon.com, a growing force in the industry. 
Bertelsmann and Pearson, the European owners of Random House and Penguin, respectively, announced the merger in October, saying that Bertelsmann would control 53 percent of the company and Penguin 47 percent. Since then, the merger has sailed through regulatory approvals in the United States and Europe, as well as China, Canada and other countries. 
The new company would have more than 10,000 employees, 250 independent publishing imprints and about $3.9 billion in annual revenues.

Warc Boosts U.S. Ad Spending Projection

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130628/ADVERTISING13/306289997/warc-downgrades-global-ad-spending-forecast-boosts-u-s-projectio

Global ad spending will increase 3.4% this year, according to a downgraded forecast from media intelligence firm Warc. The prediction is down from a January forecast of 4.0% growth.

Next year, Warc projected, global ad spending will rise 5.4%.
In the U.S., ad spending will increase 1.8% this year, according to Warc's latest forecast. In January it had predicted a 0.3% decline.

RDA Bankruptcy Plan Approved

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/rda-bankruptcy-plan-approved-court#.UdG7yOuYyKw
RDA Holding, parent company of The Reader's Digest Association, had its plan for emergence from bankruptcy approved and will officially exit Chapter 11 in late July. 
The company is set to reemerge with about $100 million in debt, down from around $500 million before the filing in February. RDA says it converted approximately $465 million in secured notes to equity. 
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York approved the measures Friday afternoon. 
According to CEO Robert Guth, RDA will focus on its "most profitable core businesses" moving forward. Ancillary units—including Every Day with Rachel Ray and Allrecipies.com—have already been divested.
The publisher's flagship titles, Reader's Digest and Taste of Home, have slowly trended upward since Guth took over in September of 2011.