Search

Newsprint producers squeezed Newsprint is in a crisis. Battered by a strong Canadian dollar and high interest rates, the combined burdens of overcapacity, persistent weak markets and low selling prices [...]

Tilbury, which celebrated it first anniversary as a privatised port in March, is pushing hard into forest products. 'We are the number one port in the UK for forest products [...]

Recession and overcapacity are casting a long shadow over the Italian paper and board industry's performance. Corruption scandals and electoral reform steal the headlines but for Italian industry, the most [...]

The world's number one paper machine supplier is waiting for an upturn in the market. Matti Sundberg, known to some as the man who never smiles, has seen many changes [...]

The loss-making Finnish forest industry, boosted by the devaluation of the markka and internal restructuring, is fighting for a brighter future. Finland is in the grip of its deepest recession [...]

If you catch a cold in Italy, catch a ride to Lucca - the country's top tissue town. Located about 50km northeast of Pisa, Lucca is home to dozens of [...]

The earnings abyss of 1991 has forced US companies to cling tightly to their capital budgets this year. Gregg Fales and Clare Turner give the lowdown on the spending slowdown [...]

Debt and cash flow have become the bywords of corporate fiscal policies for the US industry in the past year. The black months of 1991 have plunged US companies into [...]

Fighting green fears Already forced to spend C$5bn (US$4.4bn) on pollution control to satisfy federal regulations, and invest C$1.2bn on recycling projects to meet market needs, manufacturers are now fighting [...]

Canada's tale of woe Penurious times persist for the world's second largest pulp, paper and paperboard producer. Clare Turner(*) reports on an industry at crisis- point A combination of the [...]

Burgo bites the bullet Italy's biggest papermaker Cartiere Burgo aims to be among the top 10-15 European industry players by 1993. Clare Turner spoke to chairman Lionello Adler to find [...]

Recycling: meeting the 1995 challenge Municipal solid waste (MSW) discharge sites, commonly known as landfills, are disappearing in the US. Tipping fees, the disposal costs paid to refuse collectors dumping [...]

Marlboro Maverick's showdown Willamette Industries' latest investment goes by the bizarre name of the Marlboro Maverick. Despite sounding like a gunslinging outlaw from the Oregon trail, it is in fact [...]

The International Paper Chase In the past decade, IP has transformed itself. Massive capital spending, an aggressive acquisition programme focused on Europe, and a persistent move into speciality products, has [...]

Slow but steady Wall Street pundits believe the paper and forest products industry will revive in 1992, but the recovery will be 'anaemic' compared with the post-recessionary upswings of 1972, [...]

The formation of Sappi Europe represents a watershed in Sappi's 55-year history. As the largest pulp and paper producer on the African continent, with a record turnover of R2,727M and [...]

Last year Rotterdam commemorated its thirtieth anniversary as the world's largest port. Clare Turner reports on prospects for forest products at the 'Mainport of Europe' Since the 1960s Rotterdam has [...]

Westerlund has plans to expand at Antwerp - the world's number one port for forest products. Westerlund's forest products marine terminal is claimed to be the largest in the world. [...]

Seaborne forest products traffic is charting an unsteady course through the rough seas of recession. But calmer waters are ahead. Seaborne forest products traffic is set to break through the [...]

SCA, Sweden's second largest pulp and paper company, is moving ahead despite the recession. Last year the group head earnings after net financial items of SKr451M ($7M). This result was [...]

bleached kraft pulp three years ago. Speaking at the Paper and the Environment conference held in Brussels three months ago, president Helge Eklund explains why: 'Pressure from the authorities, political [...]

Sweden's number three(*) pulp and paper group has been hit harder than most by the recession. In 1992 the group lost a staggering Skr1.7bn ($210M), and the downward trend continued [...]

The rollercoaster of the paper industry, from high profits to deep losses, is proving an uncomfortable ride for most Italian producers. But one sector is still thriving. Clare Turner considers [...]

Investment activity in the Finnish forestry industry has slowed since the binge of the late 1980s. Stretched balance sheets and the burden of debt have restricted funding possibilities. But one [...]

Europe's largest supplier of LWC has hit hard times but has hopes for 1993. Clare Turner spoke to Kymmene's president Martin Granholm at the company's Helsinki headquarters Kymmene has been [...]

Metsa-Serla is on a mission. 'One of our big weaknesses is our poor balance sheet, and we're out to improve it,' president Timo Poranen told Paper. So two months ago, [...]

Three years ago a Scottish family-owned mill Thomas Tait lost its independence when it was taken over by a US giant. Clare Turner reports on how Anglo-American relations are progressing [...]

An East African paper group is making strides in Europe through its purchase of UK specialist papermaker P. Garnetts and Son. Clare Turner reports The moment Dinesh Chandaria set eyes [...]

A 150-year-old independent UK mill has been given a new lease of life by a management buy-in team. Clare Turner reports When Peter Randall arrived as the new MD of [...]

Last month the directors of Inveresk celebrated the second anniversary of their successful management buyout of the UK specialist paper company. Clare Turner finds out how the gamble has paid [...]

With the darker days of the recession over, the US pulp and paper industry appears to be on the verge of recovery. A year ago, most analysts agreed the US [...]

1991 was a year most US papermakers would rather forget. The recession put the industry through the wringer, and few firms survived the squeeze unhurt. Domestic demand for paper products [...]

Clock ticking on clean-up Tough federal environmental regulations call for a mass clean-up of Canadian pulp mills by 1 January 1994. But could the expense of installing costly control equipment [...]

IP '91: talking 'bout a revolution? At 9am on 24 September, more than 6000 delegates queued outside Grenoble's exhibition hall Alpexpo to take part in the biggest event in the [...]

Rolling along Following a year disrupted by five months of industrial action, Italy unsurprisingly reported a stagnation in total paper and board production for 1990 of 5.6M tons, a fall [...]

Strength in numbers In 1989, KNP's profits reached a record DF314M ($186.9M), while net sales increased 6.3% to DF2.7bn. Together with recently enlisted partners, total sales amounted to DF4.2bn. Prospects [...]

World champion of waste The Dutch paper and board industry is sitting pretty, according to the latest statistics from VNP (Vereniging van Nederlandse Papier en Kartonfabrieken), the industry's association. In [...]

Bon anniversaire Cobelpa More than 130 papermakers attended Cobelpa's golden anniversary at the Metropole Hotel in central Brussels. The highlight of the celebration was the presentation of three papers: Cobelpa [...]

Le meilleur says CDRA Investment is the keyword at CDRA, the pulp division of French paper group La Rochette. In 1989, sales for this leading French pulp producer reached FFr2bn [...]

Wanted: partner for pulp CdP is a 75% subsidiary of manufacturing giant Saint-Gobain, the fourth biggest company in France. Operating within the paper-wood division of the manufacturing giant, it comprises [...]

A green push for progress Beltec is one of the Swiss wastepaper industry's youngest independent companies. Founded in 1989 by general manager Fredy Trummer, it is a family enterprise which [...]