(Canada, May 17, 2012) Resolute Forest Products has taken up and accepted for payment 4,762,192 additional shares of Fibrek Inc. deposited to its offer as of the close of business today. Together with the shares Resolute Forest Products acquired up to and including May 14, Resolute holds approximately 74.56% of the currently outstanding Fibrek shares.
As aggregate consideration for the shares taken up today, Resolute will distribute approximately 135,000 newly-issued shares of its common stock and CAD$2.6 million in cash through RFP Acquisition Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including newsprint, commercial printing papers, market pulp and wood products.
Changes in BoD & Management Team:
Fibrek Inc. announced today that following the acquisition of 63.3% of Fibrek by Resolute Forest Products, each of the members of the board of directors has resigned. The new members of the Board nominated by Resolute are Jacques P. Vachon, Jo-Ann Longworth, Michel Desbiens, Michel Gagnon, Daniel Filion and Richard Garneau who will serve as Chairman of the Board.
Fibrek also announced that the following members of Fibrek's management team have resigned from their positions as corporate officers of the Company, effective immediately, but will ensure an orderly transition to the new management team until May 31, 2012:
-- Pierre Gabriel Cote, President and Chief Executive Officer;
-- Patsie Ducharme, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer;
-- Emmanuelle Lamarre-Cliche, Vice President, Legal Affairs, Sustainable Development and Corporate Secretary;
-- Jean-Pierre Benoit, Vice President, Sales and Operations;
-- Dany Paradis, Vice President, Change Management and Supply Chain.
The incoming Board of Directors has named a new management team, which includes:
-- Richard Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer;
-- Alain Boivin, Vice President, Operations;
-- Jo-Ann Longworth, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer;
-- Jacques P. Vachon, Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary.
In addition to the above, it was also announced that Investissement Quebec has agreed today to amend the change of control provision contained in the term loan such that the change of a majority of the Board of Fibrek by nominees designated by Resolute shall not constitute a change of control of Fibrek (as such term is defined in the term loan) up until the earlier of i) the date of the next annual or special meeting of Fibrek; or ii) June 29, 2012.   (Source: press release)

(Sweden, May 18, 2012) At Hispack, the largest packaging exhibition in Spain, two FibreForm based products won distinguished awards within the food and beverage categories. One was a three-dimensional pack for candy and the other a creative box for sparkling wine. The packaging producer behind the success was Cycobox, a company part of the Leca Graphics group.
Since 1995, the L'derpack Awards have been the most highly respected awards in Spain in the Packaging and . The elected winners then represent Spain in the Worldstars for Packaging, which are the most important awards in the world of packaging.
"It has been a wonderful experience to work with the FibreForm paper. It has allowed us to create innovative shapes and to offer surprising packaging solutions which is hand in hand with the spirit of Leca Graphics." says Ramon Lantero, Chief Executive from Cycobox of the Leca Graphics Group.
"We are delighted that people from the industry who are packaging professionals have selected FibreForm-based products for two of the awards. This clearly shows that the shelf appeal and the new brand image opportunities that smarter packaging can offer are attractive on the market." says Nur'a Renom, Business Development Manager, Sustainable Packaging Solutions at Billerud.
FibreForm is FSC-certified and is made from renewable raw materials that also ensure compostable and recyclable packaging.
Cycobox
The company Cycobox was established in the year 1970. In 2005, it was acquired by the Lantero Group. From the beginning, it has been a company focused to grow with its customers and adapt itself to new situations. The belonging to the Lantero Group, provides the strength of a multinational company with industrial vocation. Together with three companies manufacturing folding boxes, Cycobox form Leca Graphics Group.
Cycobox's web-site is: www.cycobox.lecagraphics.com
Billerud provides high quality paper and state of the art packaging expertise.   (Source: press release)

(Canada, May 18, 2012) Canada's next big technological and health breakthrough might come from cellulose, the woody material found in trees that enables them to stand. Cellulose is made up of tiny nanoparticles called nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) that are measured in thousandths of the width of a human hair.
Only recently discovered, Waterloo's 16 year old Janelle Tam is the first to show that NCC is a powerful antioxidant and may be superior to Vitamin C or E because it is more stable and its effectiveness won't diminish as quickly.
"NCC is non-toxic, stable, soluble in water and renewable, since it comes from trees," says Janelle, a Grade 12 student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute.
NCC has many unique properties: stronger than steel but flexible, durable and ultra light. Its potential uses are virtually limitless. Canada's national forest research institute, FPInnovations, predicts a $250 million dollar market in the coming decade.
The world's first large-scale NCC production plant opened in January at a pulp and paper mill in Windsor, Quebec. NCC is extracted from cellulose using a chemical process similar to that used in pulp mills.
Janelle Tam presenting her project before the Judging Committe and the other competitors at the Lamplighter Inn, London ON, April 18, 2012. "NCC is really a hot field of research in Canada," says Janelle, who notes that antioxidant have anti-aging and health promotion properties, including wound healing since they neutralize "free radicals" that damage or kill cells.
Janelle chemically ?paired' NCC with a well-known nanoparticle called a buckminster fullerene. These ?buckyballs' (carbon molecules that look like a soccer ball) are already used in cosmetic and anti-aging products she says. The new NCC-buckyball combination acted like a ?nano-vacuum,' sucking up free radicals and neutralizing them.
"The results were really exciting," she says and especially since cellulose is already used as filler and stabilizer in many vitamin products. One day those products may be super-charged free radical neutralizers thanks to NCC, she hopes.
Dr. Yao was deeply impressed by Janelle's hardworking, creative thinking, organization and presentation skills. "It was a pleasure to have her in my lab since Janelle is not only a task-orientated young lady, also she also gets along very well with others."
Janelle says she loves the independence and opportunity to do original research that the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge offers. She hopes to become a medical doctor and researcher.   (Source: http://sanofibiogeneiuschallenge.ca/)

(Tokyo, Japan, May 17, 2012) Sumitomo Corp said that it will obtain management rights to woodland in New Zealand by purchasing a local forest asset management unit of Wood One Co. The acquisition, estimated at more than JPY 8 billion, will give the major trading house control over a 36,000 hectare tree plantation in the northern part of New Zealand's North Island. It is slated for completion in September.
Wood One manufactures and sells wood housing materials. It will continue operating North Island wood-processing mills, as well as 40,000 hectares of tree plantations in the east and south.
Sumitomo will sign a contract to supply several hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of timber a year to a Wood One processing plant in New Zealand for 16 years.
Sumitomo also plans to export the same amount of timber a year to China and India.   (Source: The Nikkei)

(Jakarta, Indonesia, May 17, 2012) The Indonesian Pulp & Paper Association (APKI) welcomes the announcement of new Natural Forest Protection Policies by Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) presented on May 15, 2012.
"APP's new policies on Natural Forest Protection are a clear demonstration of the Indonesian pulp & paper industry's goal to achieve world-class production, trade and environmental standards."
Misbahul Huda, Chairman of the Indonesian Pulp & Paper Association (APKI), said: "APP's new policies on Natural Forest Protection are a clear demonstration of the Indonesian pulp & paper industry's goal to achieve world-class production, trade and environmental standards.
"Just a few weeks ago, the pulp and paper industry through APKI has made a firm commitment to our international trade partners and other stakeholders to support the implementation of Indonesia's new Wood Legality and Verification System (SVLK) based on regulation established by Ministry of Forestry. This commitment is stated in ?The Petition of Indonesian pulp & paper industry to achieve world-class production, trade and environmental standards' which was signed in April 20, 2012 by 7 (seven) associations including APKI.
"Now APP has built on that obligation to SVLK with new policies on High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) that will match or exceed the standards set by international stakeholders. These two developments show that Indonesia's lawmakers and major industries are determined to protect our country's precious natural resources and biodiversity, as well as meeting our international obligations to tackle climate change.
"As a leading trade association in the forestry sector, APKI will do everything it can to support APP in its new commitments and encourage other leading companies to go down the same path. This is a new era of sustainability for Indonesia's pulp and paper industry, where growth in exports will go hand in hand with ever-greater protection for the environment."   (Source: press release)

(Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 18, 2012) The Bovespa index plunged into a bear market on concern a worsening global economy will curb demand for Brazilian exports after a quarter in which most companies reported earnings that trailed estimates.
The benchmark slid 3.3 percent to 54,038.20 at the close of trading in Sao Paulo, extending its drop to 21 percent from a bull-market high on March 13. The measure had jumped 41 percent from an Aug. 8 low through that day. The real fell 0.4 percent today to 2.0087 per U.S. dollar, the weakest level since July 2009.
Concern that Europe's sovereign debt crisis is deepening while economic growth slows in China is pushing stocks lower across emerging markets. MSCI Inc.'s index of the so-called BRIC countries fell 1.4 percent today, extending its drop from this year's high to more than 20 percent as well. Russia's Micex Index entered a bear market on May 17.
"What's been really impacting the market in the past few weeks is Europe more than anything else," Greg Lesko, who manages $700 million at Deltec Asset Management in New York, said in a phone interview. "There were some disappointments in first-quarter earnings, but most of what's going on right now is related to global risk aversion."
Emerging-market stocks are dropping as Greece struggled to form a new government following an inconclusive May 6 election and as a rise in Spain's borrowing costs at an auction rekindled speculation that the crisis is spreading. In Brazil, 32 of the 61 companies in the Bovespa that have reported quarterly earnings have missed analysts' estimates, while 24 beat forecasts, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
China Outlook
A slowdown in China, Brazil's biggest trading partner, also dims the outlook for the Bovespa as raw-material producers account for 44 percent of the index's weighting, said Rogerio Freitas, a partner at Rio de Janeiro-based hedge fund Teorica Investimentos.
"China is deliberately hitting the brakes as the government tries to keep growth at a more sustainable level," Freitas said by phone. Premier Wen Jiabao cut China's target for 2012 economic expansion in March and reports showed export and import increases missed estimates in April while industrial output growth was the slowest since 2009.   (Source: industry report, Brazil)

(Ottawa, Canada, May 17, 2012) Canada's forestry industry says it is ready for a comeback and expects to add 60,000 new jobs by 2020.
Industry executives unveiled a strategy for growth Thursday to generate an additional $20 billion in economic activity in the next eight years through expanded exports to emerging markets and a recovery in the United States.
As well, they have set a target of reducing their firms' environmental footprint by 35 per cent in such areas as water usage, waste and air contaminants.
Catherine Cobden, interim president of the Forestry Products Association of Canada, said the sector had gone through a difficult few years following the collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2007 and the subsequent global recession.
Overall, the employment in the sector is down more than one-third from the 360,000 peak reached in 2005.
But Cobden said the industry has used the downturn to become more competitive, energy efficient, and to shift its attention to markets in the faster growing emerging economies, particularly China and India.
"We have faced a lot of economic challenges, shrinking markets, structural declines in some of our markets with the electronic age, currency challenges," she said in a news conference.
"But we got busy ... the Canadian forest industry is Canada's leading exporter to China."
Asia now accounts for about 28 per cent of Canada's forest products exports, up from 11 per cent a decade earlier, the forest association said.
Sales of lumber to China in particularly have exploded, from a mere $32 million in 2001 to $1.5 billion last year, the association said. Including pulp and paper, total sales to China topped $4 billion in 2011.
Meanwhile, exports to the U.S. have fallen to 62 per cent of the total from 80 per cent during the same period.
Cobden said even with the recent cooling of China's economy, exports continue to rise.
Tembec Inc. president Jim Lopez adds he believes the U.S. market is beginning to recover given recent growth in demand for lumber and building products, although he cautioned the newsprint sector is unlikely to return to previous levels.
In a report in December, the Conference Board predicted Canada's wood producers would double profits in 2012 and add 6,000 workers, mainly because of gains in export markets.
The think-tank said industry profits were expected to rise to $565 million in 2012, and subsequently grow by more than 20 per cent annually for at least two additional years.   (Source: Conference Board)

(Shanghai, China, May 17, 2012) RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced that several high-level speakers have been added to the conference program of the 13th Asian Pulp & Paper Outlook Conference. The event will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Shanghai, China, on June 11-13, 2012.
Speakers recently added to the program include:
Sunil Sood, Executive Vice President/Global Sales & Marketing Head for Paper and Board, APRIL Fine Paper Trading Pte Ltd
Cecilia Ho, Asia President, International Paper
Brian McDonald, Deputy CEO, Managing Director, Business Unit East, Ilim Group
Sanjay Singh, Divisional Chief Executive, ITC, Paperboards & Specialty Paper Division
Jeffrey D. Lindsay, Head of Intellectual Property, Asia Pulp and Paper
Dr. Cao Zhenlei, Deputy General Manger, Sinolight Corporation
Atul Kaul, Director Pulp & Paper, Arab Paper Manufacturing Co.
Dr. Vu Ngoc Bao, Secretary General, Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association
For a list of confirmed speakers, please visit: http://www.risiinfo.com/events/asia_conf/program.html.
Along with a full Day 1 of industry speakers and an Executive/CEO Panel, conference attendees will also hear RISI's team of economists and engineers present their two-year forecasts for supply, demand, profitability, investment and trade for each major grade of pulp and paper.
The Four Seasons has extended the special rate on a first come first served basis - please make your reservation as soon as possible, to ensure you don't miss out on this discounted room rate.
For more information on the RISI Asian Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference, visit www.risiinfo.com/asiaconf.
Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event. To learn more, please visit http://www.risiinfo.com/events/asia_conf/sponsoropps.html or email advertising@risi.com.   (Source: RISI)

(Davis, California, May 17, 2012) UC Davis: When trees are felled to create solid wood products, such as lumber for housing, that wood retains much of its carbon for decades, the researchers found. In contrast, when wood is used for bioenergy or turned into pulp for paper, nearly all of its carbon is released into the atmosphere.
A new study from the University of California, Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, published May 13 in the advance online edition of the journal Nature Climate Change, reports that the volume of greenhouse gas released when a forest is cleared depends on how the trees will be used and in which part of the world the trees are grown.
When trees are felled to create solid wood products, such as lumber for housing, that wood retains much of its carbon for decades, the researchers found. In contrast, when wood is used for bioenergy or turned into pulp for paper, nearly all of its carbon is released into the atmosphere. Carbon is a major contributor to greenhouse gases.
"We found that 30 years after a forest clearing, between 0 percent and 62 percent of carbon from that forest might remain in storage," said lead author J. Mason Earles, a doctoral student with the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. "Previous models generally assumed that it was all released immediately."
The researchers analyzed how 169 countries use harvested forests. They learned that the temperate forests found in the United States, Canada and parts of Europe are cleared primarily for use in solid wood products, while the tropical forests of the Southern Hemisphere are more often cleared for use in energy and paper production.
"Carbon stored in forests outside Europe, the USA and Canada, for example, in tropical climates such as Brazil and Indonesia, will be almost entirely lost shortly after clearance," the study states.
The study's findings have potential implications for biofuel incentives based on greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, if the United States decides to incentivize corn-based ethanol, less profitable crops, such as soybeans, may shift to other countries. And those countries might clear more forests to make way for the new crops. Where those countries are located and how the wood from those forests is used would affect how much carbon would be released into the atmosphere.
Earles said the study provides new information that could help inform climate models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.
"This is just one of the pieces that fit into this land-use issue," said Earles. Land use is a driving factor of climate change. "We hope it will give climate models some concrete data on emissions factors they can use."
In addition to Earles, the study, "Timing of carbon emissions from global forest clearance," was co-authored by Sonia Yeh, a research scientist with the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, and Kenneth E. Skog of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.
The study was funded by the California Air Resources Board and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.   (Source: media report, California)

(Alpharetta, Ga., U.S., May 17, 2012) Neenah Paper, Inc. announced today that its Board of Directors has authorized a program that would allow the Company to repurchase up to $10 million of its outstanding common stock.
Purchases by the Company under this program would be made from time to time in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions in accordance with the requirements of applicable law. The timing and amount of any purchases will depend on share price, market conditions and other factors. The program does not require the Company to purchase any specific number of shares and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.
"This action by our Board provides us with added flexibility in how we can deploy our cash when we believe our share price is undervalued," said John O'Donnell, Chief Executive Officer. "Our balance sheet and ability to generate cash flow remains strong, and we continue to look for ways to invest that will deliver attractive returns for our shareholders."
The stock repurchase program is expected to be funded using cash on hand or borrowings under the Company's existing revolving credit facility. As of March 31, 2012, Neenah Paper had approximately 16 million shares of common stock outstanding.   (Source: Neenah Paper, Inc.)

(Federal Way, U.S., May 17, 2012) Weyerhaeuser (NYSE: WY) was upgraded by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.
A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on WY. Analysts at Zacks reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Weyerhaeuser in a research note to investors on Monday, May 7th. They now have a $21.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Buckingham Research upgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note to investors on Friday, May 4th. Finally, analysts at Scotia Capital downgraded shares of Weyerhaeuser from a "sector perform" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note to investors on Monday, March 26th.
Weyerhaeuser traded down 1.78% on Thursday, hitting $18.80. Weyerhaeuser has a 52-week low of $14.82 and a 52-week high of $22.62. The company has a market cap of $10.102 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68.
Weyerhaeuser last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 27th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share for the quarter. Weyerhaeuser's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Weyerhaeuser will post $0.14 EPS next quarter.
Weyerhaeuser Company, formerly Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, is a forest products company. The Company is principally engaged in growing and harvesting trees, builds homes and making a range of forest products.   (Source: localizedusa.com)

(Toronto, Canada, May 17, 2012) A public rift has opened up between participants in a bold conservation effort aimed at protecting wide swaths of Canadian forest and caribou grounds.
Two years after the signing of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement -- a historic accord between nine environmental groups and 21 forest products firms -- three of the environmental groups, Canopy, ForestEthics and Greenpeace, say there has been too little progress.
The three groups say 58 of the 75 milestones set out in deal haven't been met and only 10 were delivered on time. Meanwhile, no areas have been protected by legislation so far.
"The results are sobering and disappointing," said Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Canopy, a non-profit environmental group that works with large forest products customers, including The Globe and Mail. "We can't afford to continue working at this pace."
However, other signatories to the agreement - the world's largest conservation and sustainable forest management initiative - said the concerns are misplaced. They point to major advances in talks in recent months, and say the collective is just weeks away from making significant announcements that include the creation of a logging-free zone in northeastern Ontario that is larger than Algonquin Park.
"That's not our assessment of where things are right now," Janet Sumner, executive director of conservation group Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society Wildlands League, and a member of the CBFA steering committee, said of the environmental groups' report. "We're at the penultimate moment in planning in several regions of the country."
Ms. Sumner said talks aimed at protecting forests and caribou lands in Quebec's Lac St-Jean region and northwestern Ontario are within weeks of yielding agreements that would then be put before first nations groups and governments for their input.
A plan to establish an 835,000-hectare logging-free zone in the Abitibi River area of northeastern Ontario is even more advanced. The CBFA presented a joint conservation plan to Ontario's Natural Resources Ministry in February, and the kinks are now being worked out, with input from the province and affected communities. "That plan has been largely accepted," Ms. Sumner said. "I think we can get that done in the next couple of weeks, and then we should be ready to go."
Mark Hubert, vice-president of environmental leadership with industry group Forest Products Association of Canada, said "we anticipate being able to move forward with announcements in May. Industry is keeping its commitments made under CBFA ... and intends to continue to do so."
Canopy's Ms. Rycroft agreed that the CBFA had made significant progress recently, despite missing two deadlines to reach the deals now being negotiated. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are some concrete gains in the priority areas of Ontario and Quebec in the coming weeks or months," she said. "But I think sometimes it takes a sober look at results to create the momentum for change. We don't mistake process for progress or progress for results." In addition, she said the three deals will only affect 15 per cent of the 72 million hectares covered in the agreement. "We have to get moving on delivering conservation efforts on the other 85 per cent," she said.
William Amos, director of the Ecojustice Clinic at the University of Ottawa, said the three environmental groups are assessing the trade-offs they made to join with their former foes on the agreement. "They are the ones who agreed to suspend their do-not-buy campaigns ... as a condition of joining the CBFA," he said. "So when they don't see sufficient progress that represents adequate value for that sacrifice, it's only natural they will voice their concern ... There's significant risk to them in doing this that they lose some of the good faith they've built up" at the CBFA table.   (Source: Globe and Mail)

(U.S., May 17, 2012) [Dow Jones Newswires] Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said its global tally of corporate defaults rose by one in the latest week to a total of 31 this year, with the addition of Verso Paper Finance Holdings LLC to the list.
S&P downgraded Verso Paper to selective default this week after the U.S. coated-paper manufacturer completed a distressed exchange.
Missed payments have been the most frequent reason for defaults, accounting for 12 defaults, followed by six defaults owing to bankruptcy filings and six defaults as the result of distressed-debt exchanges.
Most of the global defaults are among U.S.-based companies--at 20--followed by Europe, with three defaults.
S&P expects the U.S. corporate trailing 12-month speculative grade default rate to rise to 3.6% by March 2013, from 2.5% as of March 2012, though the projected rate remains below the long-term average of 4.5%.   (Source: Dow Jones Newswires)

(Kristianstad, Sweden, May 15, 2012) Christer Wahlquist has been recruited to the position of Business Unit Manager Nordic and Russia.
Christer is 41 years old and is currently working for the Swedish Company Nolato where he for several years successfully lead the business area Medical. Christer will be part of Bong's Group Management and is set to join Bong some time during the autumn of 2012.
The previous Business Unit Manager Nordic and Russia, Morgan Bosson, is as of April 2012 focusing 100% on the new Business Unit Bong Packaging Solutions, with the aim of accelerating growth for the ProPac assortment (Bong's product range for speciality packaging).   (Source: Bong AB)

(Kristianstad, Sweden, May 15, 2012) "The first quarter of 2012 was characterized by a strong recovery after the difficult fourth quarter of 2011. Improved margins and lower fixed costs contributed to a significant improvement in performance" says Bong President and CEO Anders Davidsson. "Now we are intensifying our efforts to raise productivity in order to ensure long-term competitiveness and profitability."
Highlights: January - March 2012:
--Net sales SEK 816 million (854)
--ProPac sales SEK 120 million (117)
--Operating income SEK 31 million (26)
--Profit after tax SEK 9 million (9)
--Cash flow after investments SEK -19 million (30)
--Earnings per share SEK 0.54 (0.46)
--Acquisition of remaining 55% stake in British company Packaging First Ltd and remaining 30% stake in Lober Druck & Kuvert GmbH.
Market and industry:
The European envelope market continued to decline somewhat during the first quarter compared with the corresponding period in 2011. Bong's assessment is that volumes decreased most in Spain, France and the UK, while the trend in Germany and the Nordic region was less negative.
Volumes in Russia and Eastern Europe are still expected to grow. The consolidation of the industry continued. The major players in the market continued to reduce capacity and staffing at a rapid pace. Some smaller players in Italy and Germany declared bankruptcy and stopped production during the first quarter.
The packaging market, where Bong markets the ProPac range, is much bigger than the envelope market. The market is also much more multifaceted. Market statistics for the niches where Bong is active are lacking or difficult to obtain. In Bong's assessment, demand for packages used in sectors including e-commerce, mail order and retail is still growing and strong growth potential is expected over time.
Rising paper prices
All of Bong's key suppliers of fine paper have announced and implemented price increases during the spring. In response, Bong has already begun implementing price increases to customers, which is necessary to restore margins to an acceptable level.   (Source: from the report)

(Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 17, 2012) Brazilian paper and packaging producer Trombini has sold its Canela recycled containerboard mill to the Brazilian Jaar Group, controlled by Dutch Jaar Investeringen investment fund, RISI reported.
The Jaar Investeringen website had listed the Canela mill in Rio Grande de Sul as an area of interest.   (Source: RISI)

(U.S., May 17, 2012) The Board of Directors of Orchids Paper Products Company authorized a quarterly cash dividend of $0.20 per outstanding share of the Company's common stock to stockholders of record at the close of business on June 6, 2012. Orchids Paper Products expects to pay this dividend on June 22, 2012.
Orchids Paper Products Company is an integrated manufacturer of tissue paper products serving the at home private label consumer market. From its operations in north east Oklahoma, the Company produces a full line of tissue products, including paper towels, bathroom tissue and paper napkins, to serve the value through premium quality market segments.   (Source: press release)

(U.K., May 17, 2012) Following the untimely death of previous Financial Director Paul Coates in January this year, Rigid Containers Ltd has now filled the position permanently, with the appointment of Lars Maynard.
Lars Maynard has held senior financial and Board level positions across a range of industries since achieving FCA certification in 1995. Most recently, he was Financial Director of a GBP 60 million packaging manufacturer group.
"I look forward to the challenges of assisting the management team in taking Rigid forward as our business continues to grow, both in volume and profitability," comments Mr. Maynard.
Rigid is part of VPK Packaging Group, one of the fastest growing independent European manufacturers of recycled paper and corrugated packaging with an annual turnover of some Euro 600 million. Together with the UK, it has a network of operating plants in Belgium, Holland, France, Poland and Romania.   (Source: press release)

(Helsinki, Finland, May 17, 2012) Metsa Tissue appointed Juha Tilli as SVP, Baking & Cooking business, with effect from 1st May 2012. He reports to Mika Joukio, CEO of Metsa Tissue and is a member of Metsa Tissue's Management Team.
Juha Tilli has previously worked as Vice President, Sales in Metsa Tissue's Away-from-Home business, being responsible for the North-Eastern European region.
Metsa Tissue is the world's leading supplier of baking and cooking products. The offering comprises siliconised greaseproof papers and non-siliconised products as well as related know-how under the SAGA brand and customer labels.   (Source: press release)

(Memphis, Tenn., U.S., May 16, 2012) International Paper released its 2011 Sustainability Report that showcases the company's new suite of 12 voluntary sustainability goals. The company expects to reach a number of goals by 2020, which include:
--15% improvement of energy efficiency in purchased energy use
--20% absolute reduction in global GHG emissions (Scope 1 and 2) associated with the production of products
--15% global increase in third party certified fiber volume
In addition to these goals, International Paper set a host of other goals addressing issues such as fiber certification, philanthropy, safety and water use.
"At International Paper, sustainability is more than a business practice," said Chairman and CEO John Faraci. "Environmental, social and economic performance has been at the core of our company for more than 110 years. Stewardship of the forestland and surrounding habitat is ingrained in our company's DNA."
The report highlights International Paper's sustainability commitment in every aspect of the business. "At every point of the International Paper supply chain - from the design of our paper and packaging, to the people and manufacturing processes, to end-use recycling and other beneficial uses, International Paper strives for a sustainable product life cycle," added Faraci.
Sustainability highlights from 2011 include the following:
--Awarded a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Climate Leadership Award
--Met 71 percent of global paper mill energy requirements with renewable biomass
--Named "Most Admired Forest and Paper Products Company®" by Fortune Magazine for Nine of last 10 years.
--Named one of Ethisphere Institute's "World's Most Ethical Companies" for the sixth consecutive year
--Total Safety Incident Rate decreased to its lowest rate ever
--Donated more than $11 million worldwide to charitable organizations.
David Kiser, International Paper's Vice President of Environment, Health, Safety and Sustainability, said: "While our focus as a forest products company is by necessity on the environmental aspects of our operations, the coverage of our new goals is broad and includes both social and environmental dimensions of sustainability."
This report, available in print and online achieves a B-level application of the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) guidelines. This represents an ongoing commitment to best practice transparent reporting. To view the report or request a printed copy, please visit www.ipsustainability.com   (Source: International Paper)

(Gernsbach, Germany, 17 May 2012) Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Europe replaces quality control system at the German Bielefeld mill to provide greater visibility into the papermaking processes, EUWID reported.
Specialty paper manufacturer Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Europe has signed Honeywell to supply a new quality control system (QCS) to the Bielefeld paper mill in Germany. According to Honeywell, the new system will give the company a better control of product quality and will help reduce production losses when implementing changes to the grade of paper being produced at the facility.
Mitsubishi HiTec Bielefeld paper mill houses two paper machines and three coating units. The production capacity amounts to approximately 150,000 tpy of carbonless, thermal, inkjet and digital imaging papers.   (Source: EUWID)