March 2019 - Midland Paper

CO2 Solutions Begins Commissioning of its Carbon Capture Unit at the Resolute Pulp Mill in Saint-Félicen, Quebec

CO2 Solutions Inc. provided an update on the Corporation’s first commercial project with Fibrek General Partnership, a subsidiary of Resolute Forest Products Inc., and Serres Toundra Inc. The project involves the deployment of a 30-tonne per day (tpd) CO2 capture unit and ancillary equipment at Resolute's pulp mill in Saint-Félicien, Quebec and the commercial reuse of the captured CO2 by the adjacent Toundra Greenhouse complex. The Corporation is pleased to announce that the start of the commissioning of the CO2 capture unit officially took place on March 14, 2019. This start-up was preceded by the successful pre-operation verifications of each of the capture unit’s systems, after which the unit was put into operation and the first tonnes of CO2 were captured. The Corporation now expects to ramp up the overall capture rate to validate the unit’s nominal capacity of 30 tonnes of CO2 per day. Click Read More below for additional detail.

5 Reasons You Must Attend Next Month’s National Catalog Forum

1. Newly-appointed PRC Commissioner, recently-named USPS Governor analyze the fate of the Postal Service: New Postal Regulatory Commission commissioner Michael Kubayanda and postal governor David C. Williams both previously served at the USPS Office of the Inspector General. Now serving on separate entities surrounding the Postal Service, they will lay out all possible options for reforming the agency to best serve catalogers' and other mailers' needs going forward. 2. Action plan for tariffs on imported merch: Angela Paolini Ellard from House Ways & Means will be part of a panel that will address catalog and other sellers of imported goods now being subject to paying 10% (or possibly greater) tariffs, the ongoing trade deliberations with China, including the impact of the US-China tariff policy, as well as a projected outlook on when, and how, this could come to end. This, coupled with an updated NAFTA and pending new free trade agreements with the EU, UK and Japan, means global supply chains could be disrupted or impacted. 3. Clearing up post-Wayfair remote sales tax confusion: 4. How the Postal Service fits your catalog marketing needs: 5. Catalog Day on Capitol Hill, April 9th: Click Read More below for additional detail.

Oil prices dip on economic worries despite tight supply

March 20, 2019
Midland Paperclips
Misc

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, dragged down by concerns about global economic growthas the U.S.-China trade dispute rumbled on, but receiving some support from tightened supply. An eight-month trade war between China and the United States has worried global markets already concerned by signs of a slowdown in economic growth this year. U.S.-China trade talks continue to present a binary risk for the oil market and other risky assets," BNP Paribas strategist Harry Tchilinguirian told the Reuters Global Oil Forum. Click Read More below for additional detail.

PwC sees two-pronged AI disruption in retail (chainstoreage.com)

Retailers of all types and sizes are responding to the impact of AI, but not in the same way. Chain Store Age recently spoke with Steve Barr, consumer markets leader at professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), about how AI is reshaping the retail landscape. Barr cited some statistics from a recent study PwC did on retail CEO attitudes toward AI that demonstrate widespread industry interest. Study results indicate 62% of retail CEOs feel AI will have a wider impact on the world than the Internet revolution, and almost 80% agree AI will significantly change the way they do business. According to Barr, AI is already causing transformation across the retail enterprise, but some retailers are further ahead in the innovation curve than others. Click Read More below for additional detail.

International Day of Forests Celebrates Sustainably Managed Forests

Each year on March 21, we celebrate the International Day of Forests to raise awareness of the importance of sustainably managed forests. You’ve probably heard many common myths about the pulp and paper industry’s effect on forests, but the truth is that sustainable forestry practices are instrumental (not detrimental) to the health and vitality of our precious forest resources. At Domtar, we understand that the more valuable trees become, the more our environment and the forestry industry will flourish. That’s why our commitment to sustainably managed forests has never been stronger. We help ensure continued viability of the forestry industry for decades to come. Thanks to innovations we’re developing every day, we believe there’s more potential than ever for trees to change the world by reducing carbon dioxide emissions and the amount of harmful plastics getting into landfills and oceans. Click Read More below for additional detail.

FedEx Corp. Reports Third Quarter Results

Operating income improved due to lower variable incentive compensation expenses, U.S. volume growth, a favorable net impact of fuel at all transportation segments and increased yields at FedEx Freight and FedEx Ground. Net income includes tax benefits of $90 million ($0.34 per diluted share) from the recognition of certain tax loss carryforwards and approximately $60 million ($0.23 per diluted share) as a result of the enactment of the TCJA, primarily from a lower statutory income tax rate. “Slowing international macroeconomic conditions and weaker global trade growth trends continue, as seen in the year-over-year decline in our FedEx Express international revenue,” said Alan B. Graf, Jr., FedEx Corp. executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We have launched our voluntary employee buyout program, constrained our hiring, are limiting discretionary spending and are reviewing additional actions to mitigate the lower-than-expected revenue trends.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

Canada’s Forest Sector Applauds Investments in Skills and Innovation

Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) applauds the federal government’s commitment to skills development and innovation in Canada’s forest products sector. Today’s budget commits more than $250M in funding to bolster Canada’s forest products industry, which employs more than 230,000 Canadians. “Today the government signaled that it recognizes and supports the transformation taking place in Canada’s forestry communities, noted Derek Nighbor, FPAC’s President and CEO. “Substantial investments dedicated to accelerating research and development, improving market access, and advancing product innovations demonstrate that the government understands where our industry is heading. We look forward to continuing our work with the federal government on these priorities for forestry workers and their families across Canada.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

Eckhard Kallies heads Koehler’s packaging paper division

"Our challenge is to establish sustainable business models in the flexible packaging industry," says Eckhard Kallies, Director of Flexible Packaging at the Koehler Paper Group. A native of northern Germany, Kallies took up his new position in the Black Forest on March 1. Kallies knows what he's talking about. He's worked in the paper industry for almost 30 years, most recently in the area of paper for flexible packaging. He outlines Koehler's target as follows: "As a newcomer to the field, we will soon make a name for ourselves as an innovative and reliable supplier in the supply chain." The key here is creating target-oriented solutions with converters and brand owners and establishing paper as the packaging material of the future. The construction of a new paper machine at Koehler's site in Kehl on the Rhine river is part of the development of the new product division. It will begin operation in September while the new coating machine will begin operation in July. In addition to conventional papers for flexible packaging, Koehler's decades of expertise in coating technology will enable it to produce papers whose barrier properties will replace plastic in some areas of packaging.

AI Moving Into Customer Service

Many service organizations already use AI and even more plan to use it in the future. The growth of AI use over the next 18 months is projected at 143%, according to a new study. The third annual “State of Service” study comprised a survey of 3,500 customer service agents and decision makers in North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe conducted by Salesforce Research. While about a quarter (24%) of service organizations already use AI, more than a third (34%) plan to within 18 months. There are reasons behind the move to AI. Most (70%) customer service agents believe automating routine tasks would allow them to focus on higher-value work, according to the study. Customer service agents use AI in a number of ways, including gathering basic information (81%), to automate the handling of routine customer issues (75%), case classification and routing (74%), providing management with operations insights (71%) and pre-fill fields in the agent console (71%). Click Read More below for additional detail.

Strong Case for Production Inkjet Technology Adoption (piworld.com)

The production inkjet market is entering its 12th year, with no retirements of inkjet presses in sight. The technology has lived up to its promise of upgradeability, and these heavy machines have lived up to their projected durability. With virtually no retirements, the installed base is growing at rates well beyond other similar age digital printing markets. As the technology expands the substrates it can print on, and its owners become more adept at shifting volume from both toner and offset, the average monthly print volume per machine is also increasing. Combine both the growing installed base, plus a growing monthly print volume per machine, and one obtains a page volume growth curve rarely seen in print markets. About one-third of the growth of inkjet pages can be attributed to a transfer from digital toner to inkjet technology. Another one-third can be attributed to replacement of offset pages (mainly in books), and one-third can be attributed to the creation of new pages — pages that couldn’t be printed before because offset wasn’t able to vary the information on the page and toner was not productive enough to print sufficient pages with variable data. Click Read More below for additional detail.