Court extends Northern Pulp creditor protection (thechronicleherals.ca)

Full Year Highlights *We achieved an improvement in our safety recordable incident rate by approximately 30 percent. *Net sales of $1,028.5 million increased 30 percent compared to 2020, primarily driven by organic volume growth, pricing actions and the impact of the acquisition of Itasa. *In April 2021, we acquired Itasa, a leading global coater and converter of release liners used in hygiene, tapes, industrial labels, composites and various other end markets. The purchase price was $240.2 million, and in the first nine months of ownership, Itasa has generated incremental net sales of $106.9 million. *We executed several operational initiatives, including a $13 million investment in new coating capacity starting up in 2023, closure of our Appleton, Wisconsin facility to save $7-8 million annually, and restarting an idled asset to support growth in premium packaging. *We made meaningful progress on key environmental, social and governance initiatives, including actions designed to reduce energy usage, water consumption and greenhouse gases, recognition through leading sustainability rating agencies (including EcoVadis Gold Medal in Spain and Silver Medal in all other locations) and advancements in the diversity of our Board of Directors (with half identifying as female or underrepresented minorities).

Ahlstrom-Munksjö introduces EcoJetTM Transfer S Series for digital-transfer printing applications. The new product series consist of high-quality transfer papers that offer excellent printing and transfer resolution, fast ink drying, and high ink acceptance, especially suitable for hard surface image transfer. Digital printing is an effective and economical method that reduces lead time compared to traditional printing methods. It is also a more sustainable method as it uses less water and produces less waste. In digital sublimation printing, the printed transfer paper is placed onto a surface, after which the paper and the soft or hard surface are pressed together at high temperature to adhere the ink on the paper to the surface. Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s multipurpose EcoJet™ range offers trusted and innovative solutions for digital transfer printing for garments, household, technical and visual communication, including both Transfer Paper (Dye Sublimation) and Protection Tissue (used to protect and increase the lifetime of the printer, while preventing ink penetration). The EcoJet™ range is produced from responsibly sourced wood pulp, certified according to Forest Stewardship Council® standards.

Due to unaffordability of operations in the current energy environment, temporary downtime has been initiated at the Bruck paper mill in Austria. The new boiler scheduled for start-up in April is expected to contribute to alleviate the situation by reducing the mill’s gas consumption and improve its energy supply. The boiler project and the packaging conversion project at the Bruck mill continue as planned. Bruck has delivered newsprint and LWC magazine paper to its customers despite a challenging energy market since the second half of 2021. Although we have secured parts of the mill’s energy supply in March, the energy prices we presently experience make operations at Bruck unsustainable, says Sven Ombudstvedt, President and CEO of Norske Skog. Norske Skog expects underlying EBITDA for the group in the first quarter of 2022 to be approximately in line with the fourth quarter of 2021.