June 7, 2007
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FROM THE WIRE
PLANT IT FORWARD is a new program by the Abundant Forest Alliance that presents hundreds of ideas for responsibly using paper products in the workplace, home, school, and community. The AFA is promoting the new program, described in detail on www.abundantforests.org, through advertisements in 10 top magazines that reach moms in the U.S.
AFA is also promoting Plant It Forward through earned media and an increasing number of Web outlets such as Backpacker.com, WomensHealthMag.com, Prevention.com, Yahoo! and AmericanGreetings.com. The program is designed to accomplish several things at once:
- Help build positive consumer associations with paper products
- Educate consumers about what the industry is doing to keep forests healthy and thriving
- Contribute to a network of environmentally responsible individuals and businesses.
APPLETON (formerly Appleton Papers) will recognize its 100th anniversary and the sesquicentennial of the city of Appleton, Wis., by presenting the city with a $100,000 gift to underwrite the construction of a plaza in City Park. Plans for the plaza will be unveiled June 9 at approximately 5 p.m. at the city's sesquicentennial celebration in City Park following the annual Flag Day parade. The city of Appleton will use Appleton's gift to construct a circular plaza in the center of City Park to serve as a focal point in the park and a permanent, year-round gathering place for members of the community and visitors. Construction is expected to begin in August with completion and dedication scheduled for mid-November.
CELLULOSE BEIRA INDUSTRIAL (CELBI), S.A., has ordered a complete pulp washing, oxygen delignification, and pulp bleaching system from Groupe Laperriere & Verrault (GL&V) as part of the modernization and capacity increase project underway at its Figueira da Foz eucalyptus-based bleached pulp mill in Portugal. The Compact Press will be the largest wash press in the industry. Commissioning of the GL&V system is planned for September 2008. The washing, oxygen delignification, and bleaching technologies of Kværner Pulping, including the Compact Press, Duflo pumps, and Dual line of mixers were acquired by GL&V in December 2006, concurrently with the acquisition of other state-of-the-art technologies including the SuperBatch cooking technology.
CROWN HOLDINGS has promoted Raymond McGowan, Jr., to president of its North American Packaging business effective July 1. McGowan will be responsible for marketing, sales, production, and planning in the region, which accounted for 34% of the company's $7.0 billion in 2006 net sales. Currently, he is serving as president of Crown's North American Food Packaging business. In this new capacity, he will also oversee North American Beverage Packaging and North American Aerosol Packaging. McGowan joined Crown Holdings five and a half years ago as VP and assistant to the president of the U.S. food can business and later was promoted to president of that division. He then served as President - Crown Food Can Packaging USA. Prior to joining Crown, he was group VP of Global Consumer Products at Sonoco Products Co.
FLAMBEAU RIVER PAPERS, Park Falls, Wis., has received the Wisconsin Governor's 2007 Pulp and Paper Energy Efficiency Award. Flambeau's winning project, "Employee Driven Heat Recovery Project Saves $2 million in Annual Natural Gas Costs," captures excess heat loss from vented steam and the hot water system, and recycles that heat and hot water back to the pulp mill and paper machines. Employees of the former Smart Paper Mill, now Flambeau River Papers, designed the project to recover wasted energy and reduce water demand placed on the river. The project cost $190,000 and will save the mill an estimated $2.1 million in natural gas costs each year, increase pulp mill production by 12 tpd, and improve operations on all of its paper machines. The mill also reduced its demand on the Flambeau River by up to 1,500 gpm. Other nominees that submitted outstanding energy efficiency projects included Stora Enso North America's Kimberly Mill, Wausau Paper's Rhinelander Mill, Neenah Paper's Neenah Mill, Appleton Coated LLC, and SCA Tissue's Menasha Paper Mill.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER AND ILIM PULP have received Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) approval, permitting IP to acquire an ownership interest in Ilim Holding SA. The approval is an important step in the process of working toward an agreement to develop a 50:50 joint venture. Negotiations and due diligence are still ongoing and should conclude in the second half of the year. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., IP employs approximately 54,000 people in more than 20 countries. The company's annual sales are about $22 billion.
MASCOMA CORP., a company involved in cellulosic biomass-to-biofuels development and production, announced this week that former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle has joined the company's board of directors. Senator Daschle is a longtime ethanol advocate who has sponsored legislation and led Congressional measures to advance the renewable fuels industry. "Senator Daschle brings substantial leadership, ethanol industry, and public policy experience to Mascoma. He will help us think strategically about our business and bring relationships needed to develop production facilities," said Mascoma CEO Bruce Jamerson.
POTLATCH CORP. (Spokane, Wash.) has appointed Eric Cremers VP, Finance and CFO. Cremers will assume CFO responsibilities on August 1, and will replace Gerald Zuehlke who will retire at the end of the year as previously announced. Cremers will have responsibility for financial reporting and controls, information technology, investor relations, risk management, and tax and treasury functions. He most recently was senior VP of corporate strategy and business development for Albertsons Inc.
SONOCO reports that it has completed the previously announced purchase of Matrix Packaging, a manufacturer of custom designed blow molded rigid plastic containers and injected molded products, for an all-cash purchase price of approximately $210 million. The acquisition, to be known as Matrix Packaging, a Sonoco company, is expected to be modestly accretive in 2007 and generate sales on an annualized basis of approximately $140 million. The new Sonoco company is led by Pushminder Judge, who is one of the founders of the business and has been its president and CEO. Matrix operates six manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Canada and employs approximately 860 workers.
TEMBEC reports that its St. Francisville, La., coated paper mill will be indefinitely idled, with a shutdown target date of July 31. The closure will affect approximately 540 employees. The St. Francisville mill has a capacity of 325,000 tons of coated and specialty papers, primarily used in catalogs, magazines, and cover stock. The decision to idle St. Francisville is consistent with the recovery plan announced last year by Tembec President and CEO, James Lopez. Margin improvement at all manufacturing locations is central to this plan and the company had indicated that, where no long-term solutions could be identified and implemented to achieve this goal, necessary action would be taken.
UPM, Helsinki, Finland, will close its Miramichi mill operations in Newcastle, N.B., Canada, in August for up to one year. The paper mill is scheduled to close late in August for 9 to 12 months. The nearby groundwood mill will also shut down. About 600 employees will be impacted. The Miramichi mill has two machines, producing lightweight coated paper, with an annual capacity of 450,000 metric tons. Despite best efforts, the company says that Miramichi has not been able to turn its exports to the U.S. profitable. The mill is suffering from unprecedented strength of the Canadian dollar. Also, market prices for the coated magazine paper have been decreasing in North America. Demand for magazine grades in North America has been stable, but globally, there continues to be overcapacity in magazine paper, suppressing the sales price, according to UPM. In Europe, UPM has permanently ceased production of 530,000 metric tons of coated magazine paper during 2006-2007 to reduce the structural overcapacity and improve profitability of the business.
WEYERHAEUSER, Federal Way, Wash., reports that it has completed the sale and transfer of its Canadian building materials distribution assets to Platinum Equity of Los Angeles, Calif. The sale includes all of the company's distribution centers in Canada. Weyerhaeuser will continue to employ about 3,500 Canadian employees, producing and distributing softwood and hardwood lumber, engineered wood, oriented strand board, plywood, and pulp. The company is still in preliminary negotiations for 10 U.S. building materials distribution sites. No further details on that transaction are available at this time. The 10 distribution sites for sale in the U.S. include: Louisville, Ky.; Memphis, Tenn.; Nashville, Tenn.; Green Bay, Wis.; Kansas City, Kan.; Oklahoma City; Omaha, Neb.; Newton, Kan.; Boston, Mass.; and Buffalo, N.Y.
WAUSAU PAPER, Mosinee, Wis., has expanded its line of towel and dispenser products used in Class A office building and other away-from-home settings. Among the newly introduced products are redesigned DublSoft premium towel and tissue lines, new DublSoft OptiFold, and EcoSoft Green Seal OptiFold towels, as well as additions to its Silhouette dispensers available in a range of translucent colors. Acting on the growing trend among building managers to emphasize restroom décor and comfort along with function, the company's Towel & Tissue segment introduced DublSoft folded and roll towels with an embossed leaf design and two-ply bath tissue with an embossed floral pattern. DublSoft OptiFold is designed for Class A office buildings, luxury hotels, upscale restaurants, and similar establishments. The EcoSoft Green Seal OptiFold toweling is designed for "green" applications such as hotels, colleges and universities, government buildings, and healthcare facilities.
SMART PAPERS has opened a new Internet retail store at www.smartpapersstore.com to provide online ordering and delivery of specialty printing papers in any quantity, including the company's Kromekote ultra-glossy paper line and all other matte and uncoated offset and digital printing papers. Papers are available in 50-, 100- and 250-count retail packs, reams, full-size cartons, and packs of 100 full-size offset press sheets. Site users can search by application or type of project.
DUPONT TITANIUM TECHNOLOGIES announced a price increase for all of its titanium dioxide (TiO2) grades sold in North America. Effective July 1, or as permitted by contract, North American (U.S. and Canada) prices for DuPont coatings, plastics, specialty, paper, and laminate titanium dioxide grades will increase by $0.05 per pound. DuPont noted that this increase is supported by market dynamics and significant increases in raw material, energy, fuel costs, as well as reinvestment economics to meet future customer needs. Other regional increases will be announced directly within the local regions.
Nominate our industry's leaders
Recognition of those who provide our industry, and our association, with exemplary service is an important part of TAPPI. With that in mind, you are invited to nominate your colleagues and peers for three important awards.
TAPPI's Nominating/Honors Committee will accept nominations for the Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal, the Herman L. Joachim Distinguished Service Award, and for new TAPPI Fellows until August 1, 2007. All nominations are due by August 1, 2007.
The TAPPI Gunnar Nicholson Gold Medal Award is the highest honor that the Association can bestow upon an individual. Established in 1928, the Gold Medal is granted to those "who have made preeminent scientific and engineering achievements of proven commercial benefit to the world's pulp, paper, board, and forest product industries."
The TAPPI Herman L. Joachim Distinguished Service Award is the highest honor the Association can bestow upon an individual for exemplary leadership that has significantly contributed to the advancement of the Association.
TAPPI Fellow is an honorary title bestowed upon individuals who have made extraordinary technical or service contributions to the industry and/or the Association. Candidates for TAPPI Fellow must have been members of TAPPI for at least ten years.
To make a nomination for any of these awards, fill out the required nomination forms online or contact Susan Blevins at sblevins@tappi.org with questions.
Family establishes Jeff Hilleke Scholarship
Jeffery Brett (Jeff) Hilleke was a long-time TAPPI member who passed away in December, 2006, at the age of 58. An active leader in TAPPI's Environmental Division, he received TAPPI's Leadership and Service Award Environmental Division in 1996.
To honor that legacy, the Hilleke family has established The Jeffery Brett Hilleke Endowed Memorial Scholarship. It is established at the University of Alabama through the College of Engineering, for students majoring in Chemical Engineering who also have a strong interest in Environmental Engineering. Contributions to this scholarship in any amount are welcome, and will enable the fund to grow and help even more students.
According to Jeff's wife Diane, the Hilleke family would deeply appreciate hearing from anyone who knew Jeff through his TAPPI involvement or his industry career. People may share memories and stories at www.legacy.com by typing in "Hilleke".
Miami Valley Plans Golf Outing
The Miami Valley TAPPI-PIMA Golf Outing will be held Thursday, June, 21st, 2007 at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro, Ohio. It will begin at 1:30 p.m. with a Shotgun Start; dinner will be served and prizes awarded at the course. The cost per foursome is $320.00. Suppliers are asked to bring raffle and door prizes. You do not have to be a member to participate--come make new contacts in a fun, informal way! For registration or more info, contact: Judy Mann, MidWest Service, 513-705-2060 ext-221.
Calls for Papers
PAPTAC Annual Meeting
February 4-8, 2008
Palais des Congrès / Montréal, Québec
The Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) is planning the program for its 94th Annual Meeting, which will take place during PaperWeek International, February 4-8, 2008. The deadline to receive abstracts is July 30th, 2007.
To submit an abstract or summary of a paper to be presented at the meeting, forward it by e-mail to Greg Hay, ghay@paptac.ca. Submissions by fax or mail will also be accepted at the following address: Greg M. Hay, PAPTAC, 740 Notre-Dame West, Suite 1070, Montreal, QC H3C 3X6; Fax : (514) 392-0369.
The technical sessions are sponsored by PAPTAC's Standing Committees; abstracts will be forwarded to the appropriate committee for consideration. Visit www.paptac.ca for more information on the PAPTAC Annual Meeting and EXFOR's 50th Anniversary.
International Pulp Bleaching Conference
June 2-5, 2008
Hotel Loews Le Concorde / Québec City, Canada
The International Pulp Bleaching Conference is held every three years and is dedicated to all chemical and engineering aspects of pulp bleaching. Considered the most important meeting on this subject, the 2008 IPBC will be hosted by PAPTAC and co-sponsored by PI (Finnish Engineers Association), SPCI (Swedish Association of Pulp and Paper Engineers) and TAPPI.
Authors interested in presenting a paper or a poster can submit an extended abstract (2-3 pages) electronically.
Abstracts are due by August 1, 2007. If you are unable to file your abstract electronically, please send your abstract to Jean Bouchard, jbouchard@paprican.ca.
Control Systems/Pan Pacific Conference
June 16-18, 2008
Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside / Vancouver, Canada
Control Systems is held every two years and is the preeminent conference in the area of process control and systems engineering for the pulp and paper industry. The 2008 event will incorporate the international Pan Pacific Conference, and as a result the list of joint sponsoring associations includes Appita (Australia/New Zealand), ATCP (Chile), Japan TAPPI, KTAPPI (Korea), PAPTAC (Canada), PI (Finland), SPCI (Sweden), TAPPI (United States of America), TAPPI Philippines, and Taiwan TAPPI.
The committee will consider including technically sound papers on any topic related to control systems that can potentially benefit pulp and paper producers. Submit abstract(s) on-line; deadline for abstracts is September 21, 2007. Direct questions to Greg Hay, PAPTAC, at ghay@paptac.ca. If you are unable to file your abstract electronically, please send your abstract to: Guy Dumont (guyd@ece.ubc.ca) or Lisa Hudson (hudson@ece.ubc.ca).
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