AF&PA Details U.S. Paper Production and Capacity Trends in Annual Survey

This letter is to notify you that NORPAC will raise the price of our Norbrite grades effective with shipments/invoices on or after May 1, 2018. Specific grades affected by this change in pricing include: Norbrite 65; Norbrite 70; Norbrite 75; Norbrite Plus; Norbrite Offset; Norbrite Hybrid; Norbrite 92 Max; Norbrite Book Cream; Norbrite Book Blue White. Additionally, be advised we plan to increase the price of our 27.7# (45.0 gsm.) standard newsprint. The increase will be phased in over two months as follows. $22.00 per metric ton on April 1, 2018 and $22.00 per metric ton on May 1, 2018. Prices for all other newsprint basis weights will be adjusted proportionally as per past practices.

Norske Skog’s EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024 was NOK 76 million, a decrease from NOK 760 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. The fourth quarter EBITDA was significantly influenced by business interruption insurance of NOK 625 million at Norske Skog Saugbrugs. The first quarter EBITDA was negatively impacted by deconsolidation of Norske Skog Tasman of NOK 46 million and lower European CO2-allowance prices of NOK 32 million. Demand for publication paper is stabilising, but further capacity closures are still required. Containerboard demand is increasing but still experiences excess capacity. “We are very satisfied with the demand for our publication paper products in the first quarter. We have invested close to EUR 500 million into containerboard and energy projects over the past three years, and we still maintain a very strong balance sheet and cash position. We are highly satisfied with the production ramp-up at Bruck. The feedback from our customers on product quality is positive, and this is promising for our plan to deliver a total of 760 000 tonnes of packaging paper from Bruck and Golbey into the market in the coming years. Along with the Saugbrugs management team, we have continued to identify future opportunities for Saugbrugs industrial site, and we hope to announce further details during the second quarter,” says Geir Drangsland, CEO of Norske Skog.

UPM Biofuels and the Paper Workers' Union have reached a negotiation outcome in the collective labour agreement negotiations concerning UPM Biofuels' Lappeenranta biorefinery. "The negotiations were conducted in a very good spirit, and we were able to focus on the essential issues right from the beginning. The content of the negotiation outcome creates a good basis for flexible operation and development of the refinery," says Petri Rekonen, Director of UPM Biofuels' Lappeenranta biorefinery. The new collective labour agreement will have a two-year contract period and it will enter into force upon approval by the Paper Workers’ Union’s Board. The union has announced that the Board will discuss the negotiation outcome at its meeting on 5 June 2024. Negotiations on the collective labour agreements for UPM Specialty Papers and UPM Raflatac will continue.