UPM concluded the sale of its hydro power facilities in Steyrermühl to Energie AG

Total European shipments of graphic papers in April 2021 were UP 13.9% vs. April 2020 and are down 8.0% year-to-date. Total European shipments of newsprint in April 2021 were UP 1.2% vs. April 2020 and are down 13.6% year-to-date. Total European shipments of sc-magazine in April 2021 were UP 21.4% vs. April 2020 and are down 6.8% year-to-date. Total European shipments of coated mechanical reels in April 2021 were UP 10.3% vs. April 2020 and are down 11.9% year-to-date. Total European shipments of uncoated mechanical (improved & others) in April 2021 were UP 16.9% vs. April 2020 and are down 1.0% year-to-date. Total European shipments of coated woodfree in April 2021 were UP 19.0% vs. April 2020 and are down 10.4% year-to-date. Total European shipments of uncoated woodfree in April 2021 were UP 21.5% vs. April 2020 and are down 1.5% year-to-date.

Kruger Products officially inaugurated its Sherbrooke Tissue Plant, which was commissioned in 2021, and also broke ground at its expansion project where another tissue plant will be built on a site adjacent to the Sherbrooke Plant by 2024. This second project, which represents further investments of $351.5 million, will deliver on the Company’s vision to make Sherbrooke a major premium-quality tissue product manufacturing hub in North America, featuring Canada’s most advanced and best-performing TAD tissue machine. In total, the Company will have invested nearly $1 billion in the Estrie Region since 2018. The Sherbrooke Plant’s inauguration and the ground breaking of the expansion project took place in the presence of Mr. Joseph Kruger II, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Kruger Inc.; François Legault, Premier of Québec; Pierre Fitzgibbon, Québec Minister of Economy and Innovation; Geneviève Hébert, Member for Saint-François and Deputy Government Whip; Évelyne Beaudin, Mayor of Sherbrooke; Dino Bianco, Chief Executive Officer, Kruger Products L.P.; and Patrice Bégin, General Manager, Kruger Products Sherbrooke Plant.

In accordance with its firm environmental commitment in carrying out its manufacturing operations, Lecta has updated the lighting installations at its Zaragoza, Sant Joan les Fonts and Motril mills in Spain. This energy efficiency project carried out in cooperation with Spanish energy and renewables company Acciona entailed substituting all the lighting at plant facilities, replacing conventional lighting with new LED installations. This first phase is part of an overall energy plan that aims to optimize energy management at Lecta's five mills in Spain. Before implementing the projects defined within the plan, most of which are currently being developed, several audits and an exhaustive analysis of the current situation at each mill were carried out.