Blog Keyword - Midland PaperClips - fine paper, packaging and supply systems distributor

04.13.2012

NewPage Awarded Patent for PointTrac™ TT RFID Product

NewPage Corporation announced today that it has been awarded U.S. (8,096,479) and Canadian (CA 2678556) patents for PointTrac™ TT, a new paper-based substrate for printed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) labels. PointTrac TT offers RFID label manufacturers the ability to combine thermal transfer printed variable analog information with advanced RFID chip technology. This technology facilitates low-cost production of printed paper RFID labels when compared with traditional multi-layer plastic film substrates.

RFID uses a wireless non-contact radio system for the transfer of data for automatic identification and tracking. PointTrac TT has special dual functionality built in so that printed barcodes on the label face can be read with a line of sight optical device or by using an out of sight electronic device.

"The NewPage PointTrac TT technology will allow RFID chips to become more widely used in shipping, tracking and transactions by making conversion to this technology more affordable," said Jim Sheibley, director of Specialty Business and Product Development.

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04.13.2012

Appleton Coated Announces Price Increase

Effective with shipments on or after May 1, 2012, Appleton Coated will be increasing the transaction prices on the following web grades:
Utopia Three; Utopia Book; Utopia Thin Book; Utopia Film Coat; All private label grades $1.50/cwt
Utopia GW Book $3.00/cwt

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04.13.2012

Cascades Announces the Closure of its Norampac – Trenton Mill

Cascades Inc., a leader in recovery and in the manufacturing of green packaging and tissue paper products, announces today the closure of its Norampac containerboard mill located in Trenton, Ontario. Following the rejection of the final offer made to the employees regarding the new collective agreement, the closure of the mill will be effective no later than June 1, 2012.

Difficult negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement took place from May 2011 to March 2012 between Norampac's management and the CEP union, following which the two parties were unable to come to an agreement. Marc-André Dépin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Norampac, declared: “We are deeply disappointed that the Norampac – Trenton employees have turned down a positive and reasonable offer.”

“Despite substantial investments made by Cascades/Norampac to help increase its profitability, the Trenton mill has incurred significant losses over the years. These losses, combined with unacceptable labour relations, have left us with no other choice but to close the mill,” added Mr. Dépin.

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04.13.2012

AAA Fuel Gage and Current Exchange Rates

AAA’s Fuel Gage Report as of 4/13/12
National Unleaded Regular:
Current Average - $3.901/gallon
Month Ago Average - $3.811/gallon
Year Ago Average - $3.812/gallon
Highest Recorded Average - $4.114/gallon on 7/17/08

Diesel:
Current Average - $4.153/gallon
Month Ago Average - $4.117/gallon
Year Ago Average - $4.121/gallon
Highest Recorded Average - $4.845/gallon on 7/17/08

Current Exchange Rates as of 4/12/12
American Dollar to Canadian Dollar = 1.00159 (120 day high - 1.01463 on March 1, 2012; low 0.950905 on November 25, 2011)
American Dollar to Chinese Yuan = 0.158544 (120 day high – 0.158948 on February 13, 2012; low 0.156639 on November 28, 2011)
American Dollar to Euro = 1.3153 (120 day high - 1.416 on October 28, 2011; low 1.2669 on January 16, 2012)
American Dollar to Japanese Yen = 0.0123456 (120 day high – 0.0131979 on October 28, 2011; low 0.0119026 on March 21, 2012)
American Dollar to Mexican Peso = 0.0764158 (120 day high – 0.0793808 on March 14, 2012; low 0.0700535 on November 25, 2011)

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04.13.2012

Targeted media to grow 8.1% this year

The targeted media category, which includes b-to-b media, branded entertainment, direct marketing, outsourced custom content and pure-play consumer Internet & mobile services, is expected to grow 8.1% this year compared with last year, according to the “VSS Forecast Mid-term Update.” Veronis Suhler Stevenson, which publishes the forecast, said the b-to-b media portion of the category is expected to grow 5.5% this year.

Total U.S. communications industry spending is expected to reach $1.185 trillion this year, a gain of 5.6% over last year. That growth rate will outperform GDP growth this year, which is projected to be 4.4%.

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04.13.2012

Oil Drops First Time in 3 Days on China Slowdown, Naimi Pledge

Oil dropped for the first time in three days, erasing a weekly gain, after China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in 11 quarters and Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said the kingdom is determined to see lower prices.

Futures fell as much as 0.8 percent after government data today showed China’s gross domestic product expanded 8.1 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, after an 8.9 percent gain in the final three months of 2011. Industrial output rose at a faster pace in March, while retail sales growth accelerated. Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, considers prices too high and is working toward damping them, Minister Ali al-Naimi said today.

“The market is still range-trading, albeit in a slightly lower range than previously,” said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd., who predicts Brent crude will remain supported at $119 a barrel. “Despite today’s GDP number, expectations are still that the Chinese economy will have a soft landing.”

Crude for May delivery fell as much as 78 cents to $102.86 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $103.16 at 10:50 a.m. London time.

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04.13.2012

Cascades Partners With Nextlife To Give Polystyrene A Second Life

Cascades and NextLife have agreed to an exclusive partnership to include recycled polystyrene, or No. 6 Plastic, and thereby to give this plastic a second life. Specifically, NextLife transforms recovered polystyrene products into sustainable resin that will be supplied to Cascades who will use it in the production of foam trays designed for meat packaging.

Recovered post-consumer materials are primarily sourced from businesses seeking sustainable solutions and an improvement in their environmental impact. The sourced material runs through a proprietary process and is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in food contact applications. “NextLife is seeing companies big and small looking for ways to become more sustainable, whether it may be finding ways to recycle and reuse their waste or implementing sustainable recycled resins in their products, Cascades is one such leader and an industry innovator,” said Ronald Whaley, CEO of NextLife.

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04.13.2012

Communications Industry Spending to Beat GDP Growth in 2012

Thanks largely to better-than-expected spending in the digital sector, the overall U.S. communications industry is projected to grow another 5.6 percent in 2012, reaching almost $1.2 trillion and beating GDP's 4.4 percent growth, says a new report from private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

The report, called the VSS Forecast Mid-Term Update, is a companion piece to VSS's annual Communications Industry Forecast and finalizes spending data from the just-past year and updates the first-year data from the previous annual Forecast—in this case, the 2011-2015 study. Going forward, the Mid-Term report will be released at the end of the first quarter each year.

Digital spending has lifted all boats among the six sectors VSS tracks. In 2011, communications industry spending actually grew 4.2 percent, just beating last year's forecast of 4.1 percent for the year. As mentioned, 2012 is expecting 5.6 percent growth, and by 2015 VSS is now predicting that total spending will reach $1.419 trillion at a 5.7 percent CAGR, slightly better than the 5.5 percent CAGR from last September's 2011-2015 report.

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04.13.2012

Two Sides reaches out with buyer survey

Two Sides and Print Power are encouraging every company in the industry to forward a survey on print use to all their contacts in a bid to reinforce the positive message about print media.

The survey has been specially designed to discover which groups of people are still using print and are most likely to respond to printed marketing material.

It will also discover which other forms of media work best alongside print with regards to advertising.

According to Two Sides director Martyn Eustace, the survey will enable the organisation to better focus its advertising, as well as going to print buyers with valuable information on the advantages of advertising in print.

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04.13.2012

NatGeo Today Dazzles on iPad By Not Being a Magazine

The digital edition of National Geographic’s monthly magazine is among the top sellers and top grossing apps in the News category of the iPad store. But the legendary brand has so much more to offer the tablet than its magazine in games and special issues that it has been publishing at a hearty pace for a while. But what about all of that lovely digital material from its Web site, archives and various online properties? Rather than let iPad users merely browse to the tablet-friendly NationalGeographic.com in the Safari browser, the publisher has come up with an elegant and absorbing way to bring the best of NatGeo to the tablet every day.

National Geographic Today understands the tablet user by dazzling her with full screen images. They had us at ‘hello.” Every day the app leads with a stunning splash page and a modest selection of content like a news article, video clip, gallery of photos. The art of this app is that it doesn’t overwhelm you like the site with a torrent of content. It is highly curated each day to give the user a taste. And this seems to us a novel and thoughtful way to come at the tablet.

Understanding that the evening tablet user is in lean-back/lean in mode, the brand gives her a glimpse of the NG brand’s offerings that doesn’t require serious investment but can reward the ambitious content digger. The site lets you track back over previous days of NG content from the app, parse the full catalog by four categories: videos, articles, galleries, featured photos. Or you can view the back catalog by a calendar interface. The daily content is sometimes highly topical (North Korea testing nukes) and often just interesting and random (using magnets as brakes). Each of the content pieces is surrounded by social tools, including making a Facebook comment and posting to your wall.

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04.13.2012

Multi Packaging Solutions Laying Off 83 Louisville Workers

Printing company Multi Packaging Solutions is cutting more than 80 jobs at one of its Louisville facilities.

According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the with the Kentucky Division of Workforce and Employment Services, Multi Packaging will cut 83 jobs at its printing plant at 4325 Shepherdsville Road.

Officials with Multi Packaging could not be immediately be reached for comment.

Multi Packaging had about 360 Louisville workers in 2010, according to data from the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

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04.13.2012

Magazines Fumble the iPad Opportunity

The iPad was hailed by many as the savior of the magazine publishing industry when it hit the market back in 2010. It represented a chance for publishers to reinvigorate their flagging subscriber bases with rich, interactive user experiences and to reclaim some of the brand ad dollars that slipped through their fingers on the Web.

But two years later, few publishers have really gone out of their way to embrace the device. There are examples of magazines that have been adapted well for the iPad environment — Wired and GQ spring to mind — but they’re exceptions to the rule. The fact is most iPad editions of magazines are simply print products squeezed onto a tablet screen with little, if any, consideration for the unique user experience of tablets.

Major publishers like Hearst, Conde Nast and Bonnier, simply shrink print pages for many of their titles and ship them out to tablet users with a few added links but with little in the way of interactive content. Examples include titles such as Men’s Health, Harper’s Bazaar, Good Housekeeping, Runner’s World, Bicycling, and more. Owing to the iPad’s smaller screen, copy is often impossible to read without zooming in or resizing the page, and before long, it’s difficult to see why users would choose an iPad magazine over an old-fashioned print one. It is akin to the early days of websites, when “brochureware” was the norm.

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04.13.2012

TC Media Launches FRESH JUICE, a New Healthy Living Media Brand

Consumers on the hunt for a fresh approach to eating and living well with ease need look no further. FRESH JUICE – healthy made delicious, the new multi-platform brand by TC Media, has hit the market with a “fresh” approach to connecting food with good health through its various brand channels. FRESH JUICE will be served up as a print publication including a digital edition (six issues per year), an online destination (www.freshjuice.ca) with exclusive content, a weekly e-newsletter, a comprehensive social media platform including Facebook/FreshJuiceCA, twitter (@FreshJuiceCA) and Pinterest.

Built on three content pillars, Eat Well, Be Well, Live Well and a tag line “Healthy Made Delicious”, FRESH JUICE offers fun, healthy and easy-to-prepare recipes; expert health, fitness and nutrition tips as well as time-savvy ways to help balance fun, family, finance and more.

“We are very excited to share FRESH JUICE with consumers and our advertising partners,” said Lynn Chambers, group publisher at TC Media. “We certainly appreciate how busy Canadian families are and FRESH JUICE is about helping people make the right decisions quickly and easily. FRESH JUICE is the only brand to showcase the link between food and good health, and bring that food straight from the grocery aisle to your kitchen table.Whether you’re looking for low-sodium or gluten free, we can help you navigate the grocery aisles and create a convenient meal option that is healthy and delicious.”

While TC Media owns the brand and is the publisher and content creator for FRESH JUICE, a distribution relationship with Loblaw Companies Limited guarantees that 325,000 of the 425,000 copies per issue will be mailed to Loblaw’s most loyal customers.

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04.12.2012

U.S. Sues Apple, Publishers Over E-Book Pricing

The U.S. filed an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday against Apple Inc. AAPL +0.73%and five of the nation's largest publishers, alleging they conspired to limit competition for the pricing of e-books.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, alleges Apple and the publishers reached an agreement where retail price competition would cease, retail e-books prices would increase significantly and Apple would be guarantee a 30% "commission" on each e-book sold.

A settlement involving some of the publishers is expected to be filed Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is expected to discuss "a significant antitrust matter" at a press conference later Wednesday.

"Defendants' ongoing conspiracy and agreement have caused e-book consumers to pay tens of millions of dollars more for e-books than they otherwise would have paid," the lawsuit said.

The agreement between Apple and the publishers allegedly occurred ahead of the introduction of the iPad in 2010 and as Amazon.com Inc. AMZN +2.39%had driven e-book pricing down to $9.99 for newly released and best-selling e-books, according to the lawsuit.

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04.12.2012

West Linn Paper Company - price announcement

West Linn Paper Company is increasing prices $1.50 per cwt effective on all new and existing orders with confirmed ship dates of May 29th, 2012 or later. This pricing change includes all of the following grades: Sonoma®; Capistrano®; Nature Web®; Nature Plus®

This price increase applies to all basis weights and finishes plus all related private label grades, C1S grades and associated brand extensions.

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04.12.2012

Resolute Announces Take-Up of 46.8% of Fibrek Shares and Extension of Offer to April 23

AbitibiBowater Inc., doing business as Resolute Forest Products, today announced that all applicable conditions to its offer for Fibrek Inc. have been satisfied and that it has taken up and accepted for payment the 60,831,859 shares deposited as of 11:59 p.m. on April 11. The tendered shares represent approximately 46.8% of the currently outstanding Fibrek shares. As aggregate consideration for the shares, Resolute will distribute approximately 1.7 million newly-issued shares of its common stock and CAD$33.5 million in cash through RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary.

The Company also announced that the Bureau de révision et décision (Québec) has issued an order to cease trade, effective immediately, Fibrek's second shareholder rights plan, which its board adopted on April 11.

In addition, in order to allow additional Fibrek shareholders to participate, the Company announced that it has extended to 5:00 p.m. on April 23 the expiry time for its offer. As further described in the offer circular and other ancillary documentation related to the offer (as amended), Resolute intends to carry out a second step transaction to acquire the Fibrek shares not deposited in the offer.

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04.12.2012

Big 3 business magazines gain ad pages in first quarter

The big three business magazines—Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes and Fortune—all posted advertising page gains in the first quarter, according to Publishers Information Bureau figures released by MPA. Bloomberg Businessweek led the way with an 8.2% gain compared with the year-earlier period.

Fortune turned in a similar performance with an 8.1% gain, and Forbes was not far behind, with a 7.4% gain. Fast Company (4.4%) and Barron's (4.2%) also delivered ad page gains.

However, other business magazines showed ad-page declines, including Wired (down 16.0%); Inc. (down 15.6%); Entrepreneur (down 10.1%); Harvard Business Review (down 8.2%); and The Economist (down 4.8%).

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04.12.2012

Meredith’s EatingWell to Up Rate Base Again in 2012

Meredith’s EatingWell magazine will raise its rate base from 500,000 to 600,000, starting with its September/October issue, marking the title’s second rate base boost this year.

At 600,000, the newly expanded distribution will represent a 71 percent increase from this time last year. In January, Meredith upped the number from 350,000 to 500,000.

Publisher Tony Catalano says the increased rate base is made possible by a combination of being “in the right place at the right time, doing all or most of the right things,” along with the mainstream emergence of the healthy eating market. The magazine’s most recent issue, January/February, sold close to 80,000 copies at newsstand, he says—a 50 percent jump from last year.

Being in the right place includes having access to Meredith’s direct mail and database resources—the company purchased the title from EatingWell Media Group last June, along with the brand’s content licensing and custom marketing group, its Health-in-a-Hurry mobile app and a series of food and nutrition-related books.

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04.12.2012

American Media Inc.’s Soap Opera Weekly Folds

American Media Inc.’s Soap Opera Weekly is closing. Initially reported by Adweek, the soap opera rag is shuttering due to a “decline in readership in the soap opera market,” according to an AMI spokesperson. Current Soap Opera Weekly subscriptions will be fulfilled by sister publication Soap Opera Digest until they expire.

Like so many other markets, soap operas have been suffering. Now down to only four soaps appearing on network television, at their peak, there were 19 soaps on air.

AMI says, “A few employees were impacted and are being used as freelancers at AMI.” Exact numbers of affected employees were not offered.

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04.12.2012

Mercer International Enhances Superior Offer to Acquire Fibrek to C$1.40 - More Cash Offered

Mercer International Inc. announced that, pursuant to an amended Support Agreement with Fibrek Inc., it has increased its offer to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Fibrek to C$1.40 per Fibrek share. Pursuant to the enhanced Offer, Mercer is offering to acquire all of the outstanding Fibrek shares for consideration per Fibrek share, at the election of each holder, in one of the following forms: C$1.40 in cash per Fibrek share; 0.1659 of a share of Mercer's common stock per Fibrek share; or C$0.64 in cash plus 0.0903 of a Mercer Share per Fibrek share.

Under the enhanced Offer, the aggregate cash consideration has been increased to approximately C$83.0 million, while the maximum number of Mercer shares available to be issued under the Offer remains 11,741,496 Mercer shares.

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04.12.2012

Magazines' First-Quarter-2012 Ad Revenues Were -4.2%

Yesterday (April 11), the MPA--Association of Magazine Media released first-quarter Publishers Information Bureau-compiled advertising data for 211 magazines. The cumulative -4.2% ad revenues ($4.489 billion in first-quarter 2012 versus $4.689 billion for the same three months in 2011) were expected, because per min's boxscores, the 146 monthlies' ad pages were -6.09% and the 29 weeklies were -9.15%.

It is a pattern that has worsened since first-half 2011, with the poor economy and the shift to digital advertising being factors. Said Meredith National Media Group corporate executive vp and president/media sales (since June 2011) Dick Porter to AdAge.com: "When it comes to recessions, print is sometimes the last guy to feel it--because we have the longer lead times--and sometimes the last to swing out of it. So I do think it will be interesting to see [quarters three and four]. We're still in a fragile economy, most people think."

The two positive first-quarter categorical exceptions were the beauty- and fashion-centric toiletries/cosmetics (+7.1% ad revenues) and apparel/accessories (+13.2%). They were reflected in the women's beauty- and fashion magazines' generally strong March Spring Preview performances. Marie Claire (pictured) had the biggest March ad-page differential, +31.40%, which contributed to MC's +16.3% first-quarter ad revenues.

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04.12.2012

Retail container traffic to increase 3.2% in April

Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 3.2% in April compared with the same month last year, and year-over-year gains should continue through the end of summer, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“Retailers are continuing to watch rising gas prices, but job gains and other indicators show the economy is strengthening,” NRF VP for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold said.

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04.12.2012

The Broad Strokes of the Hachette, HarperCollins and S&S Price-Fixing Settlement

Three publishers—Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster—have agreed to a proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle federal claims of price fixing regarding e-books. PW takes an initial look at the broad strokes of the deal, and what it means for the settling publishers.

Terms: The agency model is not dead. However, once the settlement goes into effect, the current agency agreements, along with the “Most Favored Nation” clauses they included, are history, at least for a period of time.

Going forward, the Settling Publishers can still use the agency model if they choose, but for a period of two years they cannot dictate final consumer prices, which was the allure of the agency model to begin with. Under the terms of the Settlement, however, e-book retailers can only lower consumer prices up to the amount of their commission—generally 30%, under current agency terms.

Publishers are also expressly enjoined from “retaliating” against e-book retailers.

Compliance: This is the most onerous part of the settlement, and helps explain why Macmillan and Penguin have decided to fight. Under the Settlement, each publisher will have to engage in a number of compliance measures, including:

The appointment of an "Anti-Trust Compliance Officer," reporting directly to the company’s general counsel.

In addition, the publishers must provide at least "four hours of training" for relevant staff delivered by an attorney and conduct "an annual compliance audit."

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04.12.2012

Quad and WIRED Magazine Produce America's First NFC-Powered Magazine Ad

Quad/Graphics, Inc. and WIRED have collaborated to produce America’s first mass-produced Near Field Communication (NFC) magazine ad. WIRED’s April issue features an ad with an NFC tag that launches a mobile site when tapped by an NFC-enabled Android smartphone. NFC chips have been used in smartcard and other applications, but the advertisement appearing in 500,000 subscriber copies of WIRED’s April issue marks the first time the fast-emerging chip technology has been used in an American magazine on a mass scale.

“This is a landmark development in the continued redefinition of print and the ways print can be married to innovative technologies to drive greater reader engagement and response,” says Joel Quadracci, Chairman, President & CEO of Quad/Graphics. “It is appropriate that we have partnered with WIRED and its Condé Nast support team to bring this innovation to market. WIRED is all about the future and how ideas and innovation are changing our world, and we see NFC changing how magazines and their advertisers will interact with readers.”

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04.12.2012

Rite Aid Reports Improved Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2012 Results

Rite Aid Corporation today reported improved financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended March 3, 2012.

For the fourth quarter, the company reported revenues of $7.1 billion, a net loss of $161.3 million or $0.18 per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDA of $274.3 million or 3.8 percent of revenues. Revenues improved by $690.3 million; net loss decreased by $44.4 million, or $0.06 per diluted share; and Adjusted EBITDA improved by $58.9 million over the prior year fourth quarter. These results benefited primarily from continued growth in same store sales and an extra week in the quarter.

For the full year, Rite Aid reported revenues of $26.1 billion, a net loss of $368.6 million or $0.43 per diluted share and Adjusted EBITDA of $942.9 million or 3.6 percent of revenues. Revenues improved by $906.3 million; net loss decreased by $186.9 million, or $0.21 per diluted share; and Adjusted EBITDA improved by $83.9 million over the prior year.

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04.12.2012

UPM launches ecological SwanBarrier paper range – an innovation that keeps your bread fresh and fingers clean of grease

UPM launches a new ecological UPM SwanBarrier paper range for dry and greasy food wrappings. The barrier properties of the UPM SwanBarrier papers, such as water vapour barrier and medium grease resistance, have been achieved without any PE-coating or fluorochemicals thus they are fully recyclable and biodegradable. The innovative papers are a result of UPM’s persistent Research & Development.

The UPM SwanBarrier papers are developed for dry and greasy foodstuffs e.g. for bread bags and biscuit and greasy food wrappers. Because of the water vapour barrier UPM SwanBarrier light keeps the bread fresh for at least two to three days. Unlike plastic the paper breathes and thus prevents the bread from going soggy. UPM SwanBarrier with medium level greaseproof keeps greasy food wrapping tidy and the grease does not leak through.

“With this barrier paper range we want to answer customers’ needs for a recyclable and biodegradable packing material. We also wanted to make a barrier paper with existing barrier paper properties without using non-degradable components. With UPM SwanBarrier range we can answer both these needs. This product truly enhances our Biofore vision,” says Timo Lehmuskallio, Product Manager, UPM Packaging papers.

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04.12.2012

UPS Accelerates U.S.-Mexico Trade with New Ground Freight Service

UPS today announced UPS CrossBorder Connect™, a ground freight service between the United States and Mexico designed to significantly ease heavyweight freight supply chain challenges for companies investing in cross-border trade.

The service bundles UPS's transportation and customs brokerage expertise north and south of the border to boost speed to market, drive cost efficiencies and reduce supply chain risk.

UPS CrossBorder Connect is a contractual service that utilizes the trucking network that supports UPS's North American Air Freight service. That network has been connected with trusted carriers in Mexico at eight important points along the U.S.-Mexico border. By integrating UPS's brokerage capabilities, the service helps companies with the complex brokerage process and is designed to help reduce customs delays associated with border regulations, inspections and lengthy paperwork.

UPS also provides the option of bonded movements through the border to help enable faster crossing of goods.

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04.11.2012

Preliminary March printing & writing stats (UBS)

PPPC preliminary N American printing and writing stats show much weaker trends compared to Feb. Shipments fell 12.3% y/y in March vs only a 1.6% drop in Feb.

The March comp was 500bp tougher than Feb. Shipments rose 6% m/m. Year to date shipments are off 6.7%. Utilization was unchanged m/m but fell 500 bp y/y. Year to date, op rates are flat.

Uncoated free shipments fell 6.5% y/y –worse than the 4% growth in Feb but half the decline in all print/write.

Coated free shipments fell 12% y/y. Coated groundwood shipments fell 14.8% y/y. Uncoated groundwood shipments fell 22% y/y despite the easiest comp.

Uncoated trends supportive of pricing initiative, other grades tougher. With solid op rate and more capacity yet to shut we believe the data is generally supportive of the April partial uncoated free price hike. On the other hand, we are not convinced that steep double digit declines in shipments and tepid op rates will be enough to support the recent May hikes for the other 3 grades.

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04.11.2012

Oil Trades Near Eight-Week Low on Rising U.S. Inventories

Oil traded near its lowest price in almost two months in New York after an industry report showed stockpiles rose for a third week in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer of crude.

Futures swung between gains and losses after dropping yesterday for a second day. U.S. inventories increased by 6.6 million barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute. An Energy Department report today may show they rose by 2 million to the highest level for this time of year since 1990, according to a Bloomberg survey. The U.S. cut its price forecast for domestic and imported grades used by its refiners because of rising output in Canada and North Dakota.

“The fact there is a surplus in the U.S. is borne out by yesterday’s API inventory data,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. He predicts crude will average $104 a barrel this quarter.

Oil for May delivery was at $101.39 a barrel, up 37 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:49 a.m. in London. It fell earlier as much as 0.2 percent and gained 0.6 percent. The contract yesterday declined 1.4 percent, to $101.02, the lowest close since Feb. 14.

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04.11.2012

Metsä Group announces Itochu Corporation’s strategic acquisition of 24.9 percent stake in Metsä Fibre

Metsä Group’s parent company Metsäliitto Cooperative (Metsäliitto), M-real Corporation (M-real) and Itochu Corporation (Itochu) have agreed on a transaction in which Itochu will acquire a 24.9 per cent strategic stake in Metsä Fibre Corporation (Metsä Fibre) against cash consideration of EUR 472 million, which corresponds to an enterprise value of EUR 2,040 million for Metsä Fibre.

At the completion of the transaction, Metsäliitto shall exercise the call option on the Metsä Fibre shares owned by UPM-Kymmene Corporation (UPM). The call option price for UPM’s 11.0 per cent shareholding in Metsä Fibre is EUR 150 million as was announced by Metsä Group and UPM on 30 June 2011. As a result of the transactions, Metsäliitto’s ownership in Metsä Fibre will decrease to 50.2 per cent (currently 56.8), M-real’s ownership to 24.9 per cent (currently 32.2), and Itochu will own 24.9 percent of the total share capital of Metsä Fibre.

At the same time, the parties will enter into a commercial arrangement whereby Itochu’s sales agent position in selling Metsä Fibre’s long fibre pulp in Asia and Metsä Fibre’s sales agent position in selling Itochu’s short fibre pulp in Europe will be renewed. The pulp sales included in the arrangement on the part of Metsä Fibre in Asia and on the part of Itochu in Europe amount to 500,000 tons and 150,000 tons per annum respectively.

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04.11.2012

Time Inc. Measures Consumers' Emotional Response to Media

If publishers think they've been covering the bases with an anytime, anywhere content strategy, they might be shocked to learn the results of a recent Time Inc. study conducted with Innerscope Research. Digital Natives, defined as consumers who grew up with mobile and digital technology as part of their everyday lives, switch their attention between media platforms an astonishing 27 times per hour.

That was one of the key findings of the study, called "A Biometric Day in the Life," which used biometric monitoring and point-of-view camera glasses to follow the media habits of 30 individuals during 300 hours' worth of media consumption. Biometric belts measured their emotional responses to various media platforms and the glasses recorded what platform they were viewing.

The other half of the study group consisted of Digital Immigrants, people who encountered and used digital media in their adult lives, who, predictably, have a more mellow media consumption patterns.

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04.11.2012

Graphcom Achieves G7 Master Qualified Printer Status

Graphcom, a Consolidated Graphics, Inc. company, with capabilities including digital printing, offset printing, web printing, packaging and fulfillment, announced today it has achieved G7 Master Qualified Printer status through IDEAlliance, the non-profit industry organization that develops, educates, and validates best practices in publishing and information technology. Graphcom’s G7 Master Qualified Printer designation highlights the company’s commitment to quality, consistency and color management.

Graphcom has been trained to utilize the new G7 methodology and can produce a press sheet to GRACoL (General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography) targets within acceptable tolerances. By achieving the status of a G7 Master Printer, Graphcom can reliably produce high-quality printing with a close visual appearance from proof to press, as well as from press to press. As a G7 Master Printer, the company will go through a yearly requalification audit to ensure it maintains IDEAlliance calibration and process standards.

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04.11.2012

MSLO’s Whole Living Arrives on the iPad

Joining the other major titles in the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia portfolio, Whole Living comes onto the iPad in a digital edition with the May issue. The inaugural number is optimized for the new Retina display on the latest iPads, as are all the other MSLO monthlies going forward. Whole Living certainly takes advantage of the higher resolution by filling the screens with pin-sharp, close-up imagery of natural ingredients. From the lemons on the cover to asparagus that reaches from top to bottom of the hi-res screen and every imaginable ingredient in between, the design of the book emphasizes the lusciousness of food.

As an enhanced app, the title follows some of the conventions MSLO has been laying down in its other titles. The recipes are neatly gathered in a single thumbnailed index at the bringing of the app for easy reference. The recipes have a step by step mode aimed at kitchen use. A simple swipe moves you through each prep stage with oversized type for viewing while across the room at the fridge.

For interactivity, MSLO pubs seem to have settled in to a model that keeps the user tapping to bring up more information, captions, etc. that are attached to a simple plus icon indicating there is more information. The consistency of the visual cues is welcome. Moreover, the technique keeps the delectable images large and immersive and unimpeded while the content is collapsed into fewer screens/pages that need flipping.

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04.11.2012

First Data report: Card spending growth stable in March

A report released Tuesday by First Data Corp., which tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations, found that warm weather and spring promotions boosted discretionary spending in March.

According to First Data’s March 2012 SpendTrend report, year-over-year dollar volume growth was 8.7% in March, compared with February’s 8.9% growth.

Mild temperatures and early Easter holiday spending drove retail foot traffic despite higher gasoline prices. “The mild weather across much of the nation in March encouraged retailers to promote sales of spring merchandise, providing an additional catalyst to customer traffic,” said Silvio Tavares, senior VP and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions, which publishes SpendTrend.

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04.11.2012

Tuesday Morning sales fall in Q3

Tuesday Morning Corp. reported Tuesday that same-store sales for the quarter ended Mar. 31 dropped 3.2% on spending and traffic decreases.

According to the discount retailer, traffic dipped 1.8% for the third quarter and average tickets fell 1.4%. Total revenue edged down 1% to $172.7 million, compared with $174.3 million in the year-ago period.

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04.11.2012

PET packaging market forecast to grow to $57 billion by 2017

The global consumption of PET packaging will grow to almost 19.1 million tonnes by 2017 predicts Smithers Pira in a new market study. Driven mainly by increasing demand in emerging and transitional economies, the market will grow 5.2% per annum with a focus on Asia Pacific, South and Central America, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa. Barrier PET bottles and jars for juices, milk, teas, beer, wine, and food are forecast to register strong growth over the period 2012 to 2017.

“The Future of Global PET Packaging to 2017” provides a detailed analysis of PET packaging markets and technology trends for the period ?2012 to 2017, with particular emphasis on the impact of the global economic downturn of 2008 to 2009 on the PET packaging market. It also presents volume and value data forecasts for PET packaging for the period 2012 to 2017 by end-use sector, and geographic markets. The study is based on a combination of primary and secondary data gathered during Pira's research program for the global packaging industry.

The developing countries of Asia Pacific, South America, and Central and Eastern Europe will show higher growth for PET packaging as a result of growing real incomes and the replacement of traditional pack formats by PET bottles. Asia Pacific overtook both North America and Western Europe during the period 2007 to 2012 to become the largest regional market for PET packaging. Asia Pacific accounts for a projected 29.4% of world PET packaging consumption in 2012, followed by North America with 24.1%, and Western Europe with 19.7%.

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04.11.2012

A. Schulman Releases Financial Results

A. Schulman has announced earnings for the fiscal 2012 second quarter ended February 29.

The company reported net income for the second quarter of $9.1 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, compared with net income of $7.1 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, for the comparable period last year. The translation effect of foreign currencies negatively impacted net income for the quarter by $0.5 million.

The fiscal 2012 second quarter included certain after-tax charges of $2.1 million, primarily related to restructuring expenses and acquisition-related costs. Last year's second quarter included certain after-tax charges of $5.0 million, primarily related to restructuring expenses, asset impairments, and acquisition-related costs. Excluding these charges, net income for the fiscal 2012 second quarter was $11.2 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, compared with net income of $12.1 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, for the prior-year period.

Net sales for the fiscal 2012 second quarter were $495.9 million compared with $508.3 million for the same period last year. The decrease of $12.4 million in net sales was primarily a result of the $11.7 million negative impact of foreign currency translation. Volume was 458.7 million pounds in the second quarter of fiscal 2012, down 7.8 percent from 497.3 million pounds reported last year. The decrease in volume was partially offset by a 5.8 percent increase in the average selling price per pound.

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04.11.2012

UPM plans to restructure its Finnish sawn timber and further processing businesses

UPM clarifies the strategy of its Timber and Living business areas and plans to restructure the production operations in Finland. The plan includes a possible closing of the production of Kajaani sawmill and Heinola and Aureskoski further processing plants by the end of 2012. UPM will begin co-determination negotiations with the employees in Kajaani, Aureskoski and Heinola, and later during April-May with the employees in the Finnish staff functions. Altogether 275 employees are included in the negotiations. Sale is an alternative option for closure of the production units.

”The profitability of the sawmills and further processing units located furthest from our integrated mills has been weak for a long time and has not turned permanently profitable despite the earlier restructuring measures. High log price and over capacity in the end-product markets have weakened the situation,” says the President of UPM’s Energy and Pulp Business Group Heikki Vappula.

”Our plan is to continue sawmilling and further processing in Finland in four locations, Pietarsaari (Alholma), Pori (Seikku), Juupajoki (Korkeakoski) and Lappeenranta (Kaukas), which are close to our pulp and paper mills using big volumes of wood. Saw mills and further processing plants operating close to pulp and paper mills have a central role in UPM’s wood sourcing supply chain as their by-products are used in the production of pulp, paper and energy.”

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04.11.2012

How Magazines Can Partner With Retailers

The new value-driven consumer and changing retailer strategies pose challenges for many retail product categories, including magazines.

The upside: They also open new opportunities for magazines to partner with retailers to achieve specific chain objectives, as well as boost magazine sales.

That was the core message from two speakers in a print-focused session during this year’s Publishing Business Conference & Expo: Jay Annis, VP trade sales, books and magazines for Taunton Press and president of the Periodical and Book Association of America (PBAA), and Jerry Lynch, president of the International Periodical Distributors Association (IPDA).

Annis and Lynch summarized factors that have contributed to declining magazine retail sales since the recession hit. These include consumer cutbacks on impulse-driven products of all kinds, and grocery retailers’ greater focus on necessities/perishable items, which has resulted in reduced space or less favorable locations for magazine mainlines (and other general merchandise products) in many supermarkets and supercenters.

Those two retail channels, they pointed out, continue to account for nearly 50% of all magazines sold (about 34% and 14%, respectively).

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04.11.2012

Sappi Fine Paper North America Price Increase

Sappi Fine Paper North America announces a price increase on new and unconfirmed orders that book with confirmed delivery dates on or after Friday, June 1, 2012 on the following products:

A $1.50 per CWT US$/CAD$ increase on: Somerset Web; Flo Web; Galerie Fine Web; Galerie Brite Web.

A $3.00 per CWT US$/CAD$ increase on: Galerie Lite Web – all finishes, all basis weights

Standard differentials and upcharges apply. This price increase includes any private label programs.

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04.11.2012

Precision Press to Be First Install Site for Goss Sunday Vpak Packaging Press

Precision Press, part of Taylor Corp. and an innovative U.S. packaging and label producer for the food, beverage and consumer markets, will be the first in the world to install the new Goss Sunday Vpak web offset printing system.

The new press will be configured for flexible packaging applications, with Sunday Vpak 500 web offset printing units as well as a Goss in-line flexo and coating unit. The press will also be equipped for UV and EB curing. The system will go into operation at the company’s 213,000-square-foot facility in late 2012.

Print quality, quick-change sleeve technology and the prospect of lower production costs were key factors in the investment decision, along with Goss support resources in the United States, according to Lee Timmerman, president of Precision Press. Timmerman says the Sunday Vpak 500 press will accommodate a wide variety of film substrates, product formats and high-quality lithographic requirements, supplementing the company’s extensive web offset capabilities.

“We have made a deliberate decision to do something different,” he explains. “There is a lot of untapped potential for web offset in the packaging arena, and we’re excited about the new print quality, productivity and efficiency benefits the Goss press technology will bring to our customers.”

Sunday Vpak 500 presses print at up to 1,200 fpm. Goss will equip the system at Precision Press with a closed-loop color, registration and inspection system.

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04.11.2012

O-I Provides First Quarter Results Update

Owens-Illinois, Inc. announced today that first quarter 2012 results, based on preliminary indications, should exceed prior year first quarter 2011 earnings from continuing operations of $0.50 per share (diluted) by more than 35 percent. The higher first quarter 2012 results were primarily driven by good manufacturing performance as the Company's facilities operated at greater than planned production rates. The Company increased its levels of finished goods inventory during the first quarter to support the upcoming seasonal sales volume trends, especially in North America and Europe, and to avoid the supply chain inefficiencies experienced last year during the second quarter. The results also partially benefited from 2012 pricing actions to offset unrecovered prior year inflation and anticipated 2012 inflation. Cost reduction activities initiated in the second half of 2011, as well as lower than expected costs in the first quarter of 2012 for the successful SAP deployment in North America, also benefited results.

Commenting on preliminary first quarter 2012 results and the Company's business outlook, Chairman and CEO Al Stroucken said, "We are seeing generally good initial results from our price increases and operational efficiencies. We are encouraged by the first quarter performance, yet conflicting customer demand patterns, especially in Europe where uncertainty regarding financial markets persists, continue to impact our visibility for the remainder of the year. Accordingly, we will actively manage our production levels for significant changes in sales demand patterns, and such actions could considerably influence future financial results."

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04.11.2012

The New Mohawk: A Vision for the Future

Mohawk will focus its manufacturing exclusively on high-margin papers and products that will bring distinct value to the new generation of print customers, a unique positioning in an industry historically driven by volume and capacity.

Mohawk will develop strategic acquisitions and partnerships that successfully leverage Mohawk’s expertise and operational excellence.

Mohawk will continue to move closer to the end-customer across all business segments.

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04.11.2012

FPAC Welcomes Fortress Paper as its Newest Member

The Chairman of the Board of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) Jim Lopez, today announced that Fortress Paper has become the newest member of the industry group. FPAC is the voice of Canada’s wood, pulp and paper producers nationally and internationally in government, trade and environmental affairs.

“We are delighted to welcome Fortress Paper to FPAC.” said Lopez. “Fortress will fit well in an association that is actively engaged in the dynamic transformation taking place in our sector aimed at producing new and valuable products from trees.”

Fortress is an international producer of dissolving pulp, security papers and other security related products and wallpaper base. The Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill, located in Thurso Quebec, produces dissolving pulp for the viscose fibre industry in Asia. The Companies Dresden Mill in Germany is a leading international producer of specialty non-woven wallpaper base products. The company’s security paper products business is based out of its Landqart mill in Switzerland, where it produces banknote, passport, visa and other security papers and products.

Fortress has also recently signed an agreement to purchase a mill in Lebel-sur-Quevillon Quebec where it will produce dissolving pulp and operate a co-generation facility to produce bio-energy. The company is based in Vancouver.

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04.10.2012

'BtoB' launches Crain's Social Media Group

BtoB has announced the launch of Crain's Social Media Group, a new division within parent company Crain Communications Inc. that provides social media marketing consulting services to businesses.

The new unit offers social media training, including customized training seminars, personalized executive coaching and social media audits as well as strategic social media planning and execution.

Overseeing Crain's Social Media Group is Tracy Samantha Schmidt, director-training and strategy.

"Clearly, social media is incredibly important in today's business communications mix," said BtoB Publisher Bob Felsenthal. "Tracy and our new division can help executives build their personal business presence and use effective best practices to help grow their companies' businesses."

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04.10.2012

Oil Falls a Second Day on U.S. Stockpiles, China Imports

Oil dropped for a second day in New York as a decline in China’s fuel imports and speculation that U.S. crude stockpiles rose to the highest in 22 years raised concern of slowing global demand.

Futures slid as much as 0.7 percent. U.S. inventories probably increased 2 million barrels to 364.4 million last week, the most for this time of year since 1990, according to a Bloomberg News survey before an Energy Department report tomorrow. China’s net crude imports fell 6 percent in March and overseas purchases of all goods missed economists’ estimates, customs data showed. The two nations are the world’s biggest oil consumers. Prices have gained this year on worry that tension with Iran will disrupt global supplies.

“We are now between winter and summer with relatively low demand and high refinery maintenance,” Bjarne Schieldrop, Oslo- based chief commodity analyst at SEB AB, said today in an e- mailed response. Given the previous two weeks’ increases in U.S. stockpiles, “the market is likely to be cautious on the bull side with concern that we could see yet another strong rise tomorrow.”

Oil for May delivery fell as much as 71 cents to $101.75 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $101.77 at 11:19 a.m. London time.

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04.10.2012

FutureMark counts on single-price recovered paper contracts to sidestep export, domestic market highs

With record recovered paper prices (unadjusted for inflation) at US mills the last two years, FutureMark Paper announced that it signed three long-term supply agreements for recovered paper that set a single price for the term of each contract based on historical averages rather than on monthly moving price terms.

FutureMark CEO Steve Silver said Tuesday that the two- and three-year agreements should iron out recovered paper price highs, which don't benefit FutureMark, and lows, which don't benefit recovered paper suppliers. The agreements cover about 40% of the 125,000 tons of recovered paper that FutureMark purchases annually. Of the 125,000, FutureMark consumes 70% old magazines (OMG) and coated groundwood sections (CGS), and 30% old newspapers (ONP) and coated book stock.

One of the agreements is with RockTenn, the third largest recovered paper processor in North America last year at about 1.75 million tonnes, the second largest consumer at about 4 million tonnes, and the 11thlargest exporter. For its recycled-content board mills, RockTenn principally uses old corrugated containers. Silver wouldn't identify the other two suppliers.

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04.10.2012

Japan Pulp and Paper Acquires 49% Stake in India's KCT

Japan Pulp and Paper Company (JP) said that it has acquired a 49% holding of the available shares in KCT Trading Private Limited, an Indian wholesale paper trading company, as part of the company’s efforts to further expand its global business activities.

The acquisition will enable the JP Group to strengthen its sales network in the growing Indian paper market, the company said in a statement.

In accordance with its JP Group Mid-term Business Plan 2013, JP is striving to expand its activities in relation to its overseas, resource and environment-related businesses fields in addition to its efforts to increase the profitability of its existing operations.

In terms of its overseas activities, JP is continuing to expand its global sourcing and sales network with business developments being made in a variety of areas including the wholesale supply of paper and paperboard, the manufacture of corrugated containerboard, the sale of raw materials used in the making of paper and the manufacture and sale of household paper products, the company said.

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04.10.2012

CourseSmart Upgrades Cloud-based Textbook e-Reader Services

CourseSmart, a consortium of textbook publishers offering a range of digital textbooks options for faculty and students, has released the new CourseSmart Reader, a new browser-based e-reading software platform that offers improved functionality, new tools, viewing options and overall enhanced user experience for accessing digital textbooks and course material. The new reader offers three distinct online viewing options and the release marks an enhancement in the CourseSmart platform that allows its e-textbook catalog to be \ integrated into an educational institution’s library and campus learning systems.

The new CourseSmart Reader is a cloud-based browser-based e-reader that offers students and faculty improvements in overall user experience including improved look and feel, faster page loading, stream-lined navigation, better highlighting, notes and annotations, improved search and the ability to easily index a complete listing of all notes and annotations, according to Jill Ambrose, chief marketing officer at CourseSmart. “We took a lot of faculty and student feedback to learn what helps them the most in teaching and learning to make these improvements,” she said.

The new reader allows a user to access their textbook content on multiple devices online as well as offline. Students can log on their account through the web or through the CourseSmart web app and users can toggle back and forth between the improved new reader and the classic reader view. Another upgrade allows users to request Accessible View, which provides the digital text in a fixed layout mode that displays the original print layout. The new CourseSmart Reader is available for use on Apple devices—the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch—as well as Android 2.3 and 3.0 tablets and the Kindle Fire, NookColor and NookTablet.

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04.10.2012

SCA increases its ownership in Vinda

SCA has decided to acquire an additional 5 percent of the shares in the leading Chinese tissue company Vinda. The purchase price is around 600 MSEK.

The seller in the transaction is Fu An, a company majority owned by Mr Li, the Chairman of Vinda. SCA’s share in Vinda after the transaction will be 22.6%.

Vinda is one of the most successful tissue producers in China, the second largest tissue market in the world. Currently Vinda commands strong brand recognition in the country and being the third largest player in the China household paper industry in terms of market share and production capacity. The company has eight production facilities with a total production capacity of 470,000 tons and targeting to reach 1 million tons in the coming years.

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