Metsä Group’s operations in Russia will be discontinued for the time being

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. announced today that it will indefinitely curtail its Perry Sawmill in Florida later this month. Today’s decision is the result of high fiber costs and softening lumber markets. The indefinite curtailment of Perry Sawmill will impact approximately 126 employees and will reduce West Fraser’s US lumber production by 100 million board feet. West Fraser expects to mitigate the impact on effected employees by providing work opportunities at other West Fraser operations. High fiber costs at Perry and a low-price commodity environment have impaired its ability to profitably operate. The indefinite curtailment of Perry Sawmill better aligns our production capacity with demand.

Solenis will increase prices by up to 8 percent on all polyacrylamide polymers and retention aids across the EMEA region, effective March 1, 2021, or as customer contracts allow. The price increase is necessary due to the major impact on key feedstock costs. Several Force Majeure situations at major acrylonitrile producers in EMEA and North America over the last few months have caused a shortage in product availability, significant cost increases and production and supply chain issues. Acrylonitrile is the key raw material for making acrylamide monomer and polyacrylamide polymers used in papermaking, municipal water treatment, mining and oil and gas applications. “Solenis is making every effort to overcome this shortage and secure a cost-competitive supply of polyacrylamides to our customers. We thank our customers for their continued business and partnership,” said Dr. Norbert Steiner, director, Global Product Management, Industrial Polymers.

Young people in South Africa’s rural areas have been using their power to communicate by getting active on their social media platforms with useful information about curbing the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus. Thanks to a useful set of illustrated messages created by Sappi Southern Africa about how to combat the disease, the team of Abashintshi are actively aligning their activities with the theme for South Africa’s 2020 Youth Month, which is : “Youth Power: Growing South Africa together in the period of COVID-19”. The Abashintshi are a group of enthusiastic youngsters who volunteered to receive community development training sponsored by Sappi over the last recent years and have been using this knowledge to bring about social mobilisation in their communities. “Normally they would be arranging the Sappi-sponsored school holiday programmes around now to keep youngsters entertained, but the lockdown and the disruption of school schedules, prevented them from doing so this year”, comments Mpho Lethoko, Sappi Southern Africa Communications Manager.