Fortress Paper Restarts Production at its Dissolving Pulp Mill

WestRock Company announced the future retirement of Jeff Chalovich, president of Corrugated Packaging and chief commercial officer, after an incredible 23-year career with WestRock. Moving forward, WestRock has also announced an evolution of its commercial and operational leadership structure and team reporting to president and chief executive officer, David B. Sewell. New Executive Leadership Structure and Roles: *Patrick (Pat) Lindner is assuming the role of president, Commercial, Innovation and Sustainability. *Patrick Kivits is assuming the role of president, Consumer Packaging. *Pete Durette is assuming the role of president, Corrugated Packaging, leading the converting sales and operations for the corrugated box business. *John O’Neal is assuming the role of president, Global Paper. This new organization combines the sales and commercial operations of the Consumer and Corrugated paperboard and containerboard businesses. *Tom Stigers is now responsible for the operations of all WestRock mills in the role of president, Mill Operations.

The struggle: material availability and consumer needs. As the struggle on critical raw materials continues to be a problem in vehicle electrification, we are going to need to mine a huge number of metals like cobalt and lithium to electrify the world’s vehicle fleet. This is where smaller batteries become important. – Currently, manufacturers of the next generation’s electric vehicles are competing on range. This means putting big and powerful batteries into future cars so they can travel farther between charges, says Otto Kivi, Senior Business Development Specialist in battery materials at Stora Enso. The solution: Lignode® by Stora Enso – an alternative to graphite. EV batteries are based on lithium-ion constructions made up of lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and graphite. The last-mentioned is used for the negative end of a lithium-ion battery known as the anode. While graphite deposits are not scarce, the supply of battery-grade graphite used in EV batteries is much tighter. In addition, graphite is a strictly layered material which can be slow to charge. However, Stora Enso has come up with a solution where graphite is replaced with hard carbon. Lignode® by Stora Enso has an amorphous, highly open structure enabling faster charging/discharging and higher cycling stability. This lignin-based hard carbon can replace natural or synthetic graphite either in parts or completely.

UPM Timber has completed the employee consultation process started in early February on its plans to improve profitability and strengthen competitiveness. Based on the negotiations, the number of positions at UPM Timber will decrease by 43. As a result of the negotiations, UPM Timber is renewing the management model of its sawmills and streamlining its supply chain. In addition, the small log line at Kaukas sawmill will be closed by the end of June 2021 and the operating model of Korkeakoski sawmill will be optimized.