Smurfit Kappa announces USD33 million investment in Fortaleza, Brazil

Ortviken's new factory facility was inaugurated on 16 May 2023 with a ceremonial speech by Berit Högman, Governor of Västernorrland County, and a "ribbon cutting" by timber sports profile Ferry Svan. This means that the journey towards the production of 300,000 tonnes of climate-smart CTMP pulp has formally begun. Ulf Larsson, SCA's President and CEO, started the opening ceremony in Herrgårdsparken next to Ortviken's industrial site. He stated that the project was delivered and completed on budget and also ahead of schedule, and now SCA's operations provide strengthened competitiveness on the global market. Ulf also asked the guests to send a thought to the relatives of the employee of a subcontractor who died in a workplace accident during construction. The investment of SEK 1.5 billion in Ortviken's industrial site was announced in 2020 and is aimed to increase the production of Chemi-Thermo-Mechanical Pulp, CTMP, from approximately 90,000 tons per year to 300,000 tons per year.

Continuing its progress around its sustainable sourcing goals, Crown Holdings, Inc. has received certification from the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) for its Mexican beverage can operations. Through the ASI Performance Standard, which assesses and confirms the ethicality of metal packaging production activities, Crown Mexico is verified for responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminum. The achievement underscores Crown's ongoing commitment to operate as a responsible organization across its global footprint and deliver against the goals of its ambitious Twentyby30 sustainability program. As a not-for-profit standards setting and certification organization, ASI works to define environmental, social and governance principles and criteria, with the aim to address sustainability issues in the aluminum value chain. In addition to creating a benchmark for the industry, the organization's efforts around the ASI Performance Standard include: establishing requirements that can be independently audited to provide objective evidence for the granting of ASI Certification; reinforcing and promoting consumer and stakeholder confidence in aluminum; and serving as a broader reference for the establishment and improvement of responsible production, sourcing and material stewardship initiatives in metals supply chains. Utilizing these measures, ASI's ultimate mission is to recognize and collaboratively foster responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminum.

Mondi plc has agreed to acquire the 250,000 tonne per annum Hinton Pulp mill in Alberta, Canada, from West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd (West Fraser) for a total consideration of USD 5 million. As part of the transaction, Mondi will enter into a long-term partnership with West Fraser to access local, high-quality fibre from a well-established wood basket. The intention, subject to pre-engineering and permitting, is to invest €400 million in the expansion of Hinton, primarily for a new 200,000 tonne per annum kraft paper machine, anticipated to be operational from the second half of 2027. The acquisition of the mill, and investment in the paper machine, will fully integrate operations in the Americas and enable Mondi to secure the long-term supply of high quality, cost competitive kraft paper into its network of 10 paper bags plants in the region, better positioning Mondi to support the growing market demand for industrial and mailer bags.