Billerud’s board announces that CEO Christoph Michalski is leaving

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.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has decided on two investment projects, totaling EUR 9 million, both with attractive financial returns. This supports Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s strategic ambition to maintain a leading position in selected niches of the global fiber-based solutions market that offer positive growth outlook and are supported by sustainable market drivers. In the Decor business area, the company will invest about EUR 5 million to further enhance the quality of pre-impregnated decor papers produced at its Dettingen plant in Germany. Through the investment, which will be completed by the end of 2018, Ahlstrom-Munksjö will be able to strengthen its leading position in pre-impregnated decor papers. In the Specialties business area, the company will invest about EUR 4 million to rebuild a converting line of sterilization wrap being produced at its Pont Audemer plant in France. The material is e.g. used for protecting medical garments and sterilizing instruments. The investment includes installing a new sheeter and folding line as well as automated wrapping and boxing of the finished goods. Through the investment, which will be completed by the second quarter of 2019, the business will improve its competitiveness through higher efficiency and shorter lead times.

Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc. introduces Ultrahide® PC 100 Blockout Poster. Ultrahide is a high-performance, Forest Stewardship Council® Certified, 100 percent opaque blockout poster stock ideal for indoor retail, hospitality and event signage. In answer to the call for more sustainable materials to replace PVC, styrene and vinyl, Ultrahide is now made with 100 percent post-consumer waste (PCW) recycled fiber and it is curbside recyclable in the mix paper waste bin. Ultrahide is engineered for superior performance in varying moisture conditions. The bright white, uncoated printing surface is optimized for excellent photographic reproduction using offset, screen, latex inkjet, and UV inkjet printing equipment.