Sappi Europe to increase prices on Woodfree grades by 6-8% from January 1st 2018

WestRock Company announced that Jim Porter, president, Business Development & Latin America, has decided to retire, effective December 31, 2020. Following his retirement, Jim will continue to contribute to WestRock by serving as one of its representatives on the board of managers of Gondi, S. de R.L. de C.V., the Company’s Grupo Gondi joint venture, and an advisor to the Company. Jim has had a remarkable 46-year career. After earning his degree in forest management from the University of Missouri, he started his career with Menasha. In 1993, Jim joined Southern Container and was president and chief operating officer when WestRock acquired Southern Container in 2008. He has played an instrumental leadership role in the development of the company’s corrugated packaging business and its growth in Latin America, including the company’s operations in Brazil and joint venture with Grupo Gondi in Mexico. Jim received the RISI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

Norske Skog will take a major step in its continued transformation towards a growing and high-margin business by converting two newsprint paper machines into renewable containerboard production. The conversions at Golbey and Bruck will introduce 765,000 tonnes of competitive containerboard capacity to meet the growing demand for renewable packaging. Following the conversions, both mills will have access to green energy and have reduced their carbon footprints to become among the best performers in the industry. Norske Skog will continue to be a reliable supplier of all publication paper grades after the planned conversions. Newsprint capacity will be reduced with 360,000 tonnes, balancing the market for the Norske Skog’s remaining European publication paper capacity. Norske Skog plans to invest approximately EUR 350 million in the conversion projects over an 18-month period commencing in H2 2021. The investments are expected to generate an annual EBITDA of approximately EUR 70-80 million at full utilisation, based on historical prices for containerboard and recovered paper.

Paper is by far the highest volume raw material component in UPM Raflatac self-adhesive labels, and therefore we have no room for compromises in sustainability. At the end of 2023 we reached a remarkable milestone when we achieved our target of 100% certified paper six years ahead of time. In practice it means that all papers we source from year 2024 onwards, whether used as a face paper or a release liner in our labeling materials, are certified under a credible third-party forest certification scheme. Purchasing only certified paper is one of our 2030 responsible sourcing and climate targets. We believe that third-party forest certification is one of the key ways to ensure the sustainability of our paper supply chain, along with supplier assessment, related development activities, and continuous risk monitoring and management. As our paper face and liner materials come from a large number of paper supplier sites, reaching this goal required systematic work and close collaboration with our suppliers. Increasing the share of certified papers was discussed in annual negotiations with the suppliers who supported our target by lowering and removing the hurdles of this development.