European Fine Paper Deliveries Unchanged in August

Total European coated woodfree paper deliveries were flat at 791,000 tonnes in August compared to the year-earlier period, according to CEPIFINE, the Association of European Fine Paper Manufacturers. European uncoated paper deliveries fell slightly by 0.9% to 693,000 tonnes compared to August 2007. CEPIFINE figures include Norway and Sweden in addition to the 27 countries in the European Union.

Wausau Announces FSC for Astrobrights

Based on the raising interest for sustainable paper solutions, Wausau Paper announced they achieved the Forest Stewardship Certificate (FSC) for the Astrobrights brand. Paper.com will market all the popular Astrobright colors in the Green Store.

Mohawk Paper Mill Will Hold Prices

Mohawk Fine Papers just announced it would hold current prices firm for the foreseeable future. Over the past year, mills have witnessed severe cost increases in raw materials and energy – they have answered this challenge by shuttering equipment and increasing prices. Paper.com is a large distributor for Mohawk grades and is happy to support this position of stable pricing.

Domtar, Canfor Reduce NBSK Pulp Prices

Domtar and Canfor Pulp have both informed North American customers that they will reduce prices for northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp effective October 1. The two largest N.A. market NBSK producers will lower prices to $850/tonne, a reduction of $20/ton. The move is the result of weak demand, declining prices and increased market pulp producer inventories globally.

Domtar Announces New CEO

Domtar has announced that John D. Williams will assume the role of CEO on January 1, 2009. Williams has been President of SCA Packaging Europe for the past 3yrs.

Uncoated Mechanical (Groundwood) Papers Update

Uncoated Mechanical Papers, also known as uncoated Groundwood specialties continue to enjoy good demand. Among USA four main printing and writing segments, this area was the only one that grew. Shipments were up 14% for 3.1million tons over the past six months. These are papers that are of publication quality and have a higher brightness than standard newsprint and are smoother. Typical end uses include newspaper inserts, direct mail fliers, catalogues, Sunday Newspaper Magazines, telephone directories and commercial printing.
At a glance
2008 estimate
USA Shipments 2,100,000 tons
USA Consumption 6,200,000 tons
Canada shipments 4,300,000 tons

Top 5 producers / Capacity / Market Share
AbitibiBowater / 2,530,000 / 38.5%
Catalyst / 890,000 / 13.5%
NewPage / 890,000 / 13.5%
Fraser Paper / 500,000 / 7.5%
Irving / 440,000 / 7%

Printing and Writing Paper Shipments Sluggish

Shipments of printing and writing grades for August were weak, especially for coated paper and newsprint. Coated Free sheet demand fell nearly 13% while publication (groundwood coated ) fell over 20%. Many producers curtailed equipment - Kruger 17,000tons; Verso 30,000tons; NewPage 200,000tons and Domtar will take down time. September pricing was stable, after a $5/ton increase in August and $20 in July (note: manufactures HAD announced a $50/ton summer increase). My previous update announced a $60/ton increase for October 1 - this remains in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, uncoated Freesheet (business papers) are witnessing competition from imports - the likes of Brazil and Europe as well as from mills that have turned off their coaters and are now producing uncoated papers. August saw a decline in shipments of nearly 8%.

Pulp Market Continues to Slide

The pulp prices are declining and producer inventories are increasing and global demand is weak. Chinese demand, which had been strong, is now all but gone. Pulp prices for both list price and spot price have fallen by $50-70/Ton and October is not forecasted for any improvement. Producers will now reduce supply in an attempt to correct for market conditions. We think the winter will not be kind to the pulp industry (note, Canada and Finland are the two big players).

Catalyst to Take Downtime at Snowflake Mill

Catalyst paper announced that it is cutting production at its Snowflake mill in Arizona for eight days beginning Oct. 20. The downtime will remove approximately 8,000 tons of recycle newsprint from the market as well as reduce old newsprint (ONP) fiber requirements by about 10,000 tons.

USPS Mail Volume Declines Further

The U.S. Postal Service expects to end the current fiscal year with a volume decease of 9 billion pieces when its financial results are released in November. Postmaster General John Potter said that a reduction in work hours will be necessary to “share up business” as a result of the loss.

Coated Publication Groundwood Market Continues to be Soft

September pricing for groundwood coated grades remained flat, after increasing in both August and July. Mill and printer inventories have been rising and consumption falling. Producers are taking down time to maintain discipline in the market.
Also, we note in the Groundwood market - trade reports suggest a private equity buyer is close to acquiring Tembec's idled St. Francisville, LA mill (300K tpy of coated capacity).

Newsprint Continues to Increase in Price

September prices for 30lb standard newsprint rose $15/ton to $750/ton, a 12
year high. This is the 2nd consecutive month that the full announced $20/ton
hike failed to take hold. Publishers report their inventories are rising
and a historical seasonal slowdown may yield more supply cuts to maintain pricing.

One Small Paper Mill does Well

The operators of Grays Harbor Paper in Washington State continue to do well because they now focus on niche business as a provider of 'green' paper products. The mill manufactures white, non-coated paper, basically the paper used in office copy machines. They are considered a national leader in sustainable manufacturing and green paper products. Grays Harbor Paper company now makes 9 percent of its paper entirely from “post-consumer materials” and 27 percent of its paper contains at least 30 percent recycled material. Grays Harbor Paper supplies all of the recycled paper sold at Staples office supply stores nationwide.

Google Receives 71 Percent of All Searches

Paper.com continues to be one of the biggest internet marketing companies for paper products on the web. Most of the end users visit the site through Google.
Google accounted for 71.01 percent of all U.S. searches in the four weeks ending August 28, 2008, Hitwise announced today. Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and Ask.com each received 18.26, 5.32 and 3.45 percent respectively. The remaining 46 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1.95 percent of U.S. searches.

Paper Recycling Remains High

In light of new revelations about the extent of global warming, consumers 
are putting new pressure on companies to provide environmentally friendly 
products and services. And while the shift to becoming a "green" business
is time-consuming and potentially costly, there are many advantages to 
reap.

Meanwhile, consumers are doing there part. American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) reported that 56% of the paper consumed in America was recovered for recycling in 2007. This statistic is ahead of schedule - and therefore AFPA set a new goal of 60% recovery by 2012.
The 54.3million tons of paper recovered in 2007 equates to 360 pounds for every American.

Websites such as Paper.com market recycled papers. The thousands of Green Papers stocked for immediate shipment range from 30 to 100% produced from recycled fibers.

Quebecor World Creditors Seek Lawsuit

From Printing Impressions Magazine

MONTREAL—Some creditors of bankruptcy-protected Quebecor World have asked the court for permission to file suit against the printer, seeking $376 million they claim was paid to 14 private lenders prior to bankruptcy to buy back its debt.

According to a Bloomberg report, creditors asked Judge James Peck for permission to sue, contending Quebecor World paid the amount to Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank and other parties that redeemed notes for the company on October 29, 2007, less than 90 days before the bankruptcy filing. Bloomberg quoted the creditors as saying the payments were made on account of antecedent debt owed by Quebecor World in private notes and exceeded what the parties would have received under a liquidation.

Magazine Ad Spending Down 1.4%

The Nielsen Company’s Monitor-Plus services report released today showed that advertising spending decreased 1.4% for the first half of 2008 compared to the same period last year. Advertising spending for business to business magazines fell 8% and spending for national magazines were down 3.1%. Nielson’s figures vary slightly from the Publishers Information Bureau’s, which showed a 2.8% drop in ad revenue for the same period.

Fun Facts on Recycling

Americans create 4.5 pounds of waste each day between work and home. This means by the time you are 70, 50 tons of trash has been created. The good news is now, 30% is recycled - the rest goes to landfill. It is estimated, that by the time you are 70, you will have recycled 8,100 pounds of Newspapers, books, and magazines. Note: first curb side collection of newspapers started in Missouri in 1974.

US paper mills struggle with sour economy, cheap imports and rise of digital communication

Notes from article By Dinesh Ramde, Associated Press Writer

It's a scene that has played out in small paper towns from California to Maine. The number of jobs in the domestic paper industry has shrunk about 20 percent in recent years as costs rise and imports become cheaper. Demand all around has been dampened by the slow economy as well as the shift of eyeballs away from the printed page toward the screens of PCs and cell phones.

The state of Wisconsin still has more jobs in the paper industry than any other state, mainly because of its proximity to vast rivers that supply millions of gallons of water for the treatment of wood pulp. The state had about 35,500 paper-industry jobs in 2007, down 26 percent from the 48,000 jobs it had six years earlier. Nationwide about 117,000 jobs have vanished in that span, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
After Wisconsin, the next largest paper employers are California and Pennsylvania with about 28,000 jobs each in 2007, followed by Illinois and Ohio with about 24,000 each. Each figure represents a decline of about 20 percent from 2001.

Magazine Ad Pages Down

The consumer magazine business is a disaster!
Total magazine ad pages measured by the Publishers Information Bureau are down 9.2% through August, compared to the same period last year. Virtually all the major publishers are feeling the pinch. Of 37 big publishing groups measured by TNS Media Intelligence, 32 or 86% have seen ad pages fall. For the 32 publishers that are experiencing declines, the average decline was 14% for the year-to-date.