Matti Koski has been appointed Kotkamills Oy’s Vice President, North America

Resolute Forest Products, Greenpeace, Inc., Greenpeace Fund, Inc., and Greenpeace International announced that they have resolved Resolute Forest Products, Inc. et al. v. Greenpeace International et al., No. 3:17-cv-02824-JST (N.D. Cal. 2016). Resolute Forest Products and Greenpeace Canada also announced that they have resolved Resolute Forest Products, Inc. et al. v. Greenpeace Canada et al. (Ontario Superior Court of Justice). All parties are pleased that they have turned the page on these long-running litigations. The Greenpeace parties have no knowledge of illegal operations in off-limit areas by Resolute. Greenpeace, Inc., Greenpeace International and Greenpeace Canada state that their criticism was always directed at Resolute’s legal operations in certain forests that Greenpeace believes require more protection. Greenpeace states that it will continue to advocate for protection of the environment. Resolute states that it is committed to the sustainability of the boreal forest and prosperity of its communities. Resolute and Greenpeace agree everyone should be part of this discussion and to raise concerns with each other in an attempt to resolve factual disagreements.

The Board of the Paper Workers’ Union has confirmed the negotiated results of the collective labour agreements for the Finnish mills and biorefinery of UPM Pulp, UPM Communication Papers, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Raflatac and UPM Biofuels. An agreement was reached earlier today in the last open negotiations at UPM Specialty Papers. The new collective labour agreements will have a two-year contract period and will enter into force immediately. The agreed wage increases in the collective agreements will take effect from 1 July 2024. "We are pleased that, after long and thorough negotiations, we have reached five agreements where we have jointly developed the content of the agreements to meet the needs of each business," says Riitta Savonlahti, Executive Vice President, HR at UPM.

KaMin LLC announced that it will increase prices for kaolin clay products for the global paper and packaging industry 5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2018, or as contracts allow. "This price increase is necessary to ensure our long-term sustainability," stated Mark Gillespie, Vice President of Commercial. "KaMin has continued to invest to meet regulatory requirements, as well as continued increases in labor, energy and freight/logistics costs." KaMin LLC also announces that its energy surcharge policy will remain unchanged. The threshold of $5/MMBTU and incremental surcharges by product type will remain the same. This policy applies to all slurry, spray-dried hydrous and calcined kaolin grades sold to the paper industry globally.