Neenah’s paper-based gift card offering is now significantly strengthened by the recent acquisition of a state of the art lamination asset from Hazen Paper. Hazen Paper is a world-class paper converter whose expertise and products enjoy wide acceptance in this growing market segment. As part of this asset acquisition, more than 25 experienced employees will join the Neenah team to ensure a smooth transition. Brands such as Amazon, Facebook and Ben & Jerry’s have chosen paper gift cards over plastic. The list of brands making the switch from plastic to paper gift cards grows longer every day. Paper cards eliminate the need for fossil fuel-based production, and keep toxic plastic gift cards out of the landfill. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Atlantic Packaging Products, Ltd., of Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, is pleased to announce the formation of a strategic partnership with York Container Company (YCC) of York, Pennsylvania. Details and terms of this partnership are not being disclosed. Stephen Tansey, President and representative of YCC's shareholders, commented "York Container is committed to growth and providing innovative solutions to our customers. We have enjoyed robust growth over the past several years, but we believe that in order to take our plans to the next level we need to partner with a like-minded company to expand geographically and extend our capabilities to a broader customer base. After an evaluation of our various options, we are thrilled to join forces with Atlantic. This is the best possible outcome for all of our stakeholders, in particular, our customers and employees." Irving Granovsky, Chairman of Atlantic Packaging, describes the rationale for this transaction: "Atlantic is always looking for progressive and well-managed companies to team up with. We feel York Container is a wonderful addition to our partnership portfolio." Click Read More below for additional detail.

Evergreen Packaging announced the launch of the Fall 2017 Made By Milk™ Carton Construction Contest. This year's contest theme – Sports – invites students to build milk carton creations inspired by games and recreation, from archery to ziplining, amateur to Olympic-level. Classroom teams can win up to $5,000 by building novel creations from empty milk or juice cartons repurposed from their school lunches. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2017. "Now in its sixth year, the Made By Milk™ Contest gives students of all ages the opportunity to express their creativity while building design skills, teamwork and awareness of environmental issues including sustainability," said Katie Simmons, marketing manager at Evergreen Packaging. "We can't wait to see how students across the country will translate this year's Sports theme into imaginative carton creations." Click Read More below for additional detail.

Oliver Printing & Packaging Company, a leading provider of print, display and packaging services, announced the acquisition of Pohlig Packaging, a packaging manufacturer based in Richmond, Virginia. Pohlig Packaging is a manufacturer of folding cartons, micro-fluted corrugated boxes and setup boxes, serving the food and grocery, consumer products, automotive aftermarket and healthcare markets. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Mondi will show how its packaging solutions are addressing industry and consumer trends at the 2017 PACK EXPO trade fair in Las Vegas. “Industrial customers and consumers today are sophisticated and demanding,” says Georg Kasperkovitz, CEO Mondi Consumer Packaging. “Whether for their own customers or themselves as end-users, brand managers prefer packaging that is convenient and that helps with the buying decision. Producers of consumer goods, food, animal feed and seed are asking the packaging industry for solutions and materials that are easy to use, increase brand recognition, differentiate at the point of sale, and build trust with consumers.” At PACK EXPO, Mondi will show how it is using its capabilities to meet customer needs in the North American market and addressing these trends with its wide range of packaging solutions, including flexible packaging, bags and pouches, barrier coatings, technical films, and industrial bags. With a focus on food and beverage packaging, Mondi’s booth will feature a special product discovery area allowing visitors to discover how Mondi’s products touch millions of lives, every day.

Packaging Corporation of America announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Sacramento Container Corporation, and 100% of the membership interests of Northern Sheets, LLC and Central California Sheets, LLC in a cash-free, debt-free transaction for a cash purchase price of $265 million. The Company has also announced that it will discontinue production of uncoated freesheet (UFS) and coated one-side (C1S) grades at its Wallula, Washington mill in the second quarter of 2018 to begin the conversion of its 200,000 ton-per-year No. 3 paper machine to a 400,000 ton-per-year high-performance 100% virgin kraft linerboard machine. The acquisition transaction is structured as a purchase of assets resulting in a full step-up of the assets to fair market value. Under the terms of the agreement, PCA will acquire full-line corrugated products and sheet feeder operations in McClellan, California and Kingsburg, California. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Amcor’s CEO Mr Ron Delia said: “Amcor’s strong full-year results reflect the progress we have made on our strategic investments and the benefits of our broad mix of geographic exposures. Underlying PBIT and EPS grew 9 and 10 percent respectively on sales growth of 4 percent for the year, and cash flow was at the high end of our expectations. “Balanced earnings growth from a variety of sources again demonstrated the resilience of Amcor’s business and management teams. Earnings were up strongly in both the Flexibles and Rigid Plastics segments, driven by organic growth and acquisitions. Across developed markets, earnings grew at rates which exceeded overall market growth. In emerging markets, we delivered increased earnings in the face of difficult conditions in several countries. Click Read More below for additional detail.

With a culture of innovation, Dominion Packaging of Richmond, VA selected the latest technology in flexo printing to produce premium folding carton packaging for the tobacco, food and beverage markets when deciding its print direction. Its formula for success lies in the combination of state-of-the-art machinery and a market-focused strategy to provide exceptional product appeal. A key driver – to offer quality packaging at a modest cost – led the company to develop new technology using a flexo press operation capable of replacing jobs that were previously printed on both gravure and offset presses. The advancement is based on the successful installation of a TRESU Flexo Innovator press (FI1400-10, 55-inch, 10-units). The new Innovator is a flexographic in-line press equipped with rotec® High Speed Sleeves and rotec® Atlas Adapters from Flint Group. This particular combination of sleeves and adapters provides optimal control of plate bounce by absorbing press vibrations and providing added stability, thus permitting the press to run at faster speeds while still allowing for a solid kiss impression. Click Read More below for more of the story.

Soyuz, based in Moscow, produces corrugated packaging for a range of sectors and has approximately 300 employees. Smurfit Kappa already has three plants in Saint Petersburg, Russia producing paper-based and Bag-in-Box® products for customers across Europe. This acquisition enables Smurfit Kappa to further strengthen its position in Russia and broaden its offering to its multinational and local customers. The acquisition also establishes Smurfit Kappa as the leading international corrugated packaging supplier in Russia. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Total Packaging Papers shipments were 230,900 tons, 4.7% higher than July 2016. Bag & Sack shipments were up 6.1% year-to-date, while Food Wrapping shipments were down 9.5% over the same period. The operating rate for July 2017 was 88.4%, in line with the year-to-date rate of 88.6%. Inventories were 173,100 tons, up slightly since June.

Containerboard production was 5.2% higher compared to July 2016. The month-over-month average daily production compared to June 2017 was 1.7% higher. The containerboard operating rate for July increased from 96.3% to 97.9%, which was 2.8 percentage points higher compared to July of last year. Year-to-date production of containerboard for export is up 6.3%.

At drinktec 2017, Graphic Packaging International (GPI) will reveal a new packaging machinery system and state-of-the-art robotic integration capabilities for the beverage industry, along with other industry-leading machinery and carton solutions. For the first time, the company will demonstrate ReShape™, a revolutionary technology capable of creating virtually any pack configuration seamlessly with one piece of packaging equipment. With ReShape, beverage manufacturers can reinvent, reimagine, and ReShape their cartons to produce the shapes and configurations they need today, along with unique structures for the future. "ReShape opens up many options in beverage packaging," said Doug Hicks, Director of GPI's Packaging Machinery Division. "The system can both internally and externally nest primary containers to create a variety of shapes and sizes with the potential to use less fiber. Also, unique handle designs deliver added comfort and strength." Click Read More below for additional detail.

Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, is pleased to announce that its revolutionary new paperboard cup design, ‘Lidloc’, has been selected as a finalist in the prestigious 2017 PPI Awards. The Lidloc design was chosen for the Packaging Innovation category, clearly reflecting how it has broken new ground in paperboard cup design. The design has a patent pending and is based upon an extension to a standard cup structure that folds and locks into an integrated lid. This innovative design completely removes the need for a separate plastic lid and will re-invent how paperboard cups are produced, consumed and recycled. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Total boxboard production increased 2.9 percent when compared to July 2016, and increased 6.5 percent from last month. Unbleached Kraft Boxboard production increased over the same month as last year and increased compared to last month. Total Solid Bleached Boxboard & Liner production increased when compared to July 2016, and increased compared to last month. The production of Recycled Boxboard decreased compared to July 2016, and decreased when compared to last month.

The Group’s consolidated sales rose slightly from EUR 1,142.2 million to EUR 1,150.3 million. Both divisions contributed to this rise. At EUR 102.1 million, operating profit was EUR 8.7 million or 7.9 % below the value for the first half of the previous year (EUR 110.8 million). Thus, the Group's operating margin was at 8.9 %, following 9.7 % in the first six months of 2016. Financial income of EUR 1.3 million (1st half of 2016: EUR 1.6 million) was offset by financial expenses of EUR -2.9 million (1st half of 2016: EUR -3.2 million). Owing to the deconsolidation of the Tunisian packaging companies, a one-off expenditure of EUR 2.3 million was incurred due to the accumulated foreign currency translation, which is reported under “Other financial result – net”. Click Read More below for additional detail.

At this year's Phoenix Challenge Foundation college competition promoting the flexographic printing industry, Clemson University utlilized UPM Raflatac's new Raflex MDO film labels as part of their team's successful entry. Partnerships with local manufacturers are very important to the university, and with two UPM Raflatac factories less than 100 miles from Clemson's campus, collaboration has never been easier. Raflex MDO films balance the best performance properties of PP and PE for maximum functionality and shelf appeal, which was key to the team's entry. Each year, participating teams are given a prompt and must work with a client/partner to fit into their packaging and promotional needs using flexography. In this year's challenge, Clemson's client/partner was the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA). Clemson's goal was to promote the FTA to younger generations and reinforce their scholarship program. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Second Quarter 2017 Highlights (as compared to second quarter 2016): * Revenue increased 4.3% to $210.2 million primarily due to an increase in average selling price including the impact of product mix, additional revenue from the Powerband Acquisition(1), and the non-recurrence of the South Carolina Commissioning Revenue Reduction(2) in the second quarter of 2016. * Gross margin decreased to 22.5% from 25.7% primarily due to the non-recurrence of South Carolina Flood Insurance Proceeds(2) of $4.5 million recorded in the second quarter of 2016. * Net earnings attributable to the Company shareholders ("IPG Net Earnings") decreased $3.5 million to $10.2 million, primarily due to a decrease in gross profit and an increase in selling, general and administrative expenses (“SG&A”), partially offset by a decrease in manufacturing facility closures, restructuring and other related charges and income tax expense. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Metsä Board is delighted to announce that eight cartons using its paperboards have been shortlisted for the finals of the 21st European Carton Excellence Awards (formerly the Pro Carton ECMA Awards). With all the successful entries submitted by Metsä Board customers, there are finalists in Save the Planet, Most Innovative, Beauty & Cosmetics, Food & Beverages and Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals categories. The Awards will be presented at the ECMA Congress on 21 September in Salzburg and the winners will appear on www.procarton.com at midnight on 21 September. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Amelco Industries Ltd is one of the leading suppliers of raw materials and machinery for the manufacture of innerspring mattresses in the south-eastern Mediterranean and Middle East area. The company works hard to ensure that its products are the best they possibly can be – and with Mondi`s support it has now optimised the packaging for its mattress innersprings. With Mondi’s Advantage MF SpringPack Plus speciality kraft paper, the company exceeded customer and logistics expectations, while in addition it has set a new world record in innerspring packing together with Mondi`s Speciality Kraft Paper team. In order to enhance the loading capacity of the containers used during transportation, innerspring units are roll packed. Amelco made its first roll-packing machine more than 25 years ago, while by endorsing new customer needs and expectations, as well as its customers’ feedback, the machine has progressively been evolved to the version that is now been offered on the open market. Costas Georgallis, owner of Amelco Industries Ltd, explains: “We test our machine prototypes in real working conditions – e.g. with technical support from Mondi – and improve them before we release them to our customers who asked us to maximize the number of spring units packed in each roll. Together with Mondi`s speciality kraft paper experts we realised that controlling the paper tension was a major factor in achieving a successful result. We therefore had to use the best and strongest spring pack paper on the market – which is Advantage MF SpringPack Plus from Mondi. To us, there is no other packaging material that can match Mondi`s SpringPack Plus grade for roll-packing as it is the best suitable material to compress and roll-pack the springs in a safe way and without putting them at risk to be damaged.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

For the second quarter ended June 30, 2017, net sales were $12,812,000 down 9.5% from net sales of $14,151,000 for the Second Quarter 2016. For the six month period ended June 30, 2017, net sales were $28,171,000 down 4% from net sales of $29,355,000 for the same period of 2016. The second quarter net loss was ($526,000) or ($0.15) per share basic, ($0.14) per share diluted, compared to a 2016 second quarter net loss of ($83,000) or ($0.02) per share. For the six month period ended June 30, 2017, there was a net loss of ($468,000) or ($0.13) per share compared to a net loss of ($76,000) or ($0.02) per share for the same period of 2016. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Pratt Chairman Anthony Pratt has been named as the 6th most influential person in the world of pulp, paper and packaging by our industry’s leading information provider. RISI compiled the annual power list for the July/August issue of Tappi’s Paper 360 magazine after polling pulp and paper industry experts from around the globe to determine the top 50 industry executives wordwide. Anthony, who ranked 23rd last year, shot up 17 places as his U.S. company continued to show rapid growth. The entry reads: “The company’s go-getter global chairman received a standing ovation from President Donald Trump at an event in New York City in May after pledging to invest in the US. ‘I’d like to pledge another US$2 billion over the next 10 years, doubling our rate of investment, to create an additional 5,000 high-paying manufacturing jobs mainly in the Midwest,’ Pratt said. During the past couple of decades, the Australian billionaire has spent about US$2.5 billion building Pratt Industries into the sixth largest US containerboard producer, with four recycled containerboard mills and more than 60 box plants generating US$3 billion in sales. The Midwest has been a major area of recent investment, but recent speculation has been on Pratt Industries’ future expansion plans in the West, where the company bought Robert Mann Packaging. Pratt has talked of plans to build a US$1 billion corrugated box business in California and possibly add a mill on the West Coast. More recently, he mentioned plans to build a ‘high-tech, robotic’ box plant in California for more than US$70 million that could be capable of producing 135,000 tons/yr of corrugated.”

Q2 2017 Highlights • Sales of $1,130 million (compared to $1,006 million in Q1 2017 (+12%) and $998 million in Q2 2016 (+13%)) • As reported (including specific items) • Operating income of $48 million (compared to $31 million in Q1 2017 (+55%) and $65 million in Q2 2016 (-26%)) • OIBD 1 of $104 million (compared to $78 million in Q1 2017 (+33%) and $112 million in Q2 2016 (-7%)) • Net earnings per common share of $3.41 (compared to net earnings of $1.70 in Q1 2017 and net earnings of $0.38 in Q2 2016) • Adjusted (excluding specific items) 2 • Operating income of $51 million (compared to $28 million in Q1 2017 (+82%) and $65 million in Q2 2016 (-22%)). Click Read More below for additional detail.

Cascades Inc. announces that it will close its packaging plant in Maspeth, New York, as part of the Corporation's modernization and optimization efforts in the Northeastern United States. "To support our future development and better serve our customers, we are announcing today that the Maspeth plant's output will gradually be redeployed to our other facilities. This decision was necessary as the current site has reached its physical limits. This transition will be seamless for all of our customers. The property has already been put up for sale for US$72 million," said Charles Malo, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cascades Containerboard Packaging. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Net sales of $1.1 billion increased 3.0% on an as reported basis. Currency had a negative impact on total net sales of 0.7%, or $7 million. As reported, net sales in North America increased 9%. Asia Pacific declined 2% while Latin America and EMEA declined 4% each. Net income from continuing operations on a reported basis was $29 million, or $0.14 per diluted share, as compared to net income from continuing operations of $2 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, in the second quarter 2016. Net income in the second quarter 2017 was unfavorably impacted by $40 million of special items, including $18 million of tax expense and $18 million of charges related the pending sale of Diversey. Special items negatively impacting the second quarter of 2017 also included costs incurred related to the sale of Diversey, and restructuring and other restructuring associated costs. Net income in the second quarter 2016 included $72 million of special items, including charges related to ceasing operations in Venezuela, restructuring charges and other costs associated with our restructuring programs, and a loss on the remeasurement of our Venezuelan subsidiaries. Click Read More below for additional detail.

President and CEO Kari Jordan: “Metsä Group’s profitability in 2017 has improved from the previous year. The most significant reasons for the improved result are the clearly higher volumes in paperboard deliveries and the increased price of pulp. Metsä Group’s key development projects aiming for profitable growth are progressing according to plan. The construction of the bioproduct mill in Äänekoski, which has proceeded on schedule and on budget, is nearly completed, and the mill’s start-up will begin in mid-August. Pulp deliveries to customers will start at the beginning of September. The new production line at the Kerto® LVL mill in Lohja will likewise start up in August. The construction of the birch plywood mill in Pärnu, Estonia, and the work of converting the old paper machine hall at Äänekoski into a birch veneer mill are proceeding well. The Husum paperboard mill’s new extrusion coating line started up in April, and the related quality feedback from customers has been good. In June, we began work on rebuilding the baking paper machine at the Düren mill in Germany. The new machine will also allow us to expand our cooking paper business in the future. After years of stagnation, Finland’s economy has started to pick up. For this growth to continue, our country needs investments. Metsä Group and Finland’s forest industry in general have met this need. Click Read More below for additional detail.

Peter Oswald, Mondi Group chief executive, said: “Mondi delivered a robust performance in the first half of 2017, with revenue up 8%, underlying operating profit of €497 million and a return on capital employed of 18.7%, reflecting management’s ongoing value focus and the strength of our business model. Profitability was down on the comparable prior year period, mainly driven by a significantly lower forestry fair value gain in South Africa and the impact of mill maintenance shuts. We continue to drive growth through our capital investment programme. During the period, we commissioned the second phase of our major investment in the ongoing development of our world-class facility in Poland, while good progress is being made on the modernisation of our kraft paper facility in Czech Republic. The integration of acquisitions completed during 2016 and early 2017 is on track. These acquisitions enhance our geographic reach and product portfolio in Corrugated Packaging and Consumer Packaging. The market outlook remains broadly positive. We saw strong demand across Packaging Paper and Corrugated Packa ging in the first half and successfully implemented price increases across certain paper grades, the full effect of which is anticipated in the second half. The second half of the year will be impacted by planned maintenance shuts at a number of our mills and the usual seasonal downturn in Uncoated Fine Paper. While we continue to see some inflationary cost pressures, we remain confident of making progress in the year and continuing to deliver industry leading returns." Click Read More below for additional detail.

Berry Global Group, Inc. (NYSE:BERY) today reported results for its third fiscal 2017 quarter, referred to in the following as the June 2017 quarter. “This continues to be an exciting year for Berry as we celebrate our 50th year in business while also achieving a milestone in the quarter with our placement into the Fortune 500. We achieved quarterly records for net sales and operating EBITDA and continued our work integrating the AEP acquisition. Adjusted free cash flow improved 20 percent, and adjusted net income per diluted share was also 13% higher at 93 cents,” said Tom Salmon, CEO of Berry.

Cascades Inc. (TSX: CAS), the leader in recuperation of recyclable materials and in manufacturing of green packaging products and tissue paper, announces an investment of $80 million USD for the construction of a new containerboard packaging plant in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States. This new plant, which will create 120 jobs, will manufacture corrugated packaging products and will be among the most modern of its kind in North America. It will begin operations in the second quarter of 2018. Once all equipment is installed, total annual production capacity will be 2.4 billion square feet. Ultimately, this represents an increase in the integration rate of approximately 5%. The facilities will have a surface area of more than 400,000 square feet.