Ahead of the Curve

The Perfect Storm: Foreign Exchange, Shipping Rates, Oil Prices, and the Pulp and Paper Industry

30 Nov 2016 By Ming Tan, Analyst and Product Manager, Fisher International There is a storm gathering on the horizon and it has the potential to hit US shores with disruptive effect. The storm’s winds are caused by the dramatic change in the cost of trade that has occurred in the last fifteen months. It is, in fact, a “perfect storm” in its potential effect on US paper manufacturers.

Proud to be a Papermaker

23 Nov 2016 JAN BOTTIGLIERI At the end of each year, the Paper360° team likes to remind readers why the industries served by our publication are truly special with a feature called “Proud to be a Papermaker.” While our companies and products contribute to global commerce, health, energy, technology, education, home environments, and more, it’s our people that truly make us proud.

2016 AF&PA Sustainability Award Winner

16 Nov 2016 The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) presented its 2016 Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 Sustainability Awards at AF&PA’s annual meeting on Friday, Nov. 11 in Cary, NC. Five AF&PA member companies received awards from 23 outstanding submissions across the industry.

Invention, innovation and US jobs

09 Nov 2016 Ben Thorp, Harry Seamans, and Masood Akhtar Biorenewable Deployment Consortium, Madison, WI, USA According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there were 17,619,000 Americans employed in the manufacturing section in January 1998; by January 2010, this figure had declined to 11,462,000 or a loss of 6,157,000 factory jobs in 12 years (Hemphill et al. 2015). This does not count the number of “consequential” jobs that were also lost. This loss of manufacturing jobs has reached the point of creating national concern.

Has monetary policy reached its limit?

02 Nov 2016 By David Katsnelson, Director, Macroeconomics, RISI Since the global financial crisis in 2007, central banks around the world have taken some extraordinary measures to first rescue banking systems and economies from collapse, and later to support growth. Over that time period, global central banks have cut policy rates 667 times and instituted many unconventional policies, including quantitative easing (QE) and negative interest rates.

Publishers walking back on commitment to digital

26 Oct 2016 Some publishers have begun backtracking on their commitments to digital, writes Ellen Duffer in a recent article at Forbes.com. At the Cheltenham Literature Festival (October 7-16 in Cheltenham, England), Penguin General Books managing director Joanna Prior said the company has started looking more critically at its investments in electronic publishing.

Celebrating National Forest Products Week

19 Oct 2016 “Whereas the bounty of our forest and timber lands provides our people with a source of strength and pride; and Whereas as a major renewable resource, supported by the science of modern forestry, wood offers the availability and abundance to satisfy the Nation’s ever growing needs for many products—lumber, paper, building materials, chemicals, furniture, and cloth—all dedicated to improving the lives of our people…”

Classroom Paper Use Increasing, Survey Shows

12 Oct 2016 Though the “digital classroom” may be in the news, a recent report confirms that kids, teachers and parents still love paper. Paper and Productive Learning: The Second Annual Back-to-School Report, commissioned by the Paper and Packaging Board, surveyed 4,300 students, parents and teachers in the United States and shows that not only does paper still have a role in the classroom, but its use and importance is growing.

Event Report: Specialty Papers US

06 Oct 2016 Professionals from large and small specialty papers manufacturing companies, along with industry suppliers and end users, converged in Chicago, IL, September 21-23 for Specialty Papers US 2016. The event was sponsored jointly by Smithers Pira and TAPPI.

Innovation: The Long View

28 Sep 2016 The following is an excerpt from a series of articles in the September/October issue of Paper360° focusing on Research and Development in the pulp and paper industry.