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In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Stora Enso and Sonoco.

The PM40 closed Friday, 30 June 2023, at 4953.

Get the latest PM40 updates by listening to the weekly Nips show and the PM40 Daily Show on Pulp & Paper Radio International.

The PM40 closed 30 June 2023 up 17.2% from the 1 July 2022 level.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

In the recent old days, negotiating issues for a new mill or plant site were simple...taxes, utilities, job services, and so forth. However, changing conditions result in changing needs.

It allows customers and partners to conduct trials for producing nonwovens from recycled and/or natural fibers such as hemp, flax, and cotton.

The equipment provided by Andritz will be used on the new paper machine, due to start up mid-2025, that will provide a range of paper grades for the FMCG and e-commerce sectors serviced by DS Smith.

Valmet will deliver a comprehensive recovery boiler upgrade to Fibre Excellence Provence mill in Tarascon, Southern France. The upgrade will have a significant impact on the performance of the customer's recovery boiler, according to Valmet.

Konecranes has acquired the industrial crane service operations of Norway's Munck Cranes AS, giving it access to new customers and a large installed base of Munck's industrial cranes in Norway and beyond.

Start-up is scheduled for the Q1 2024.

Jari Vähäpesola, the current Business Line President, Paper, has decided to retire after a long, successful career at Valmet as of December 1, 2023.

The delivery projects are scheduled to start up during the first half of 2025.

The new OPL site is specifically designed to support paper manufacturers in automation, digitalization and achieving their sustainability goals.

Ahlstrom further broadens its range of release papers by introducing new products that support the design of more sustainable double-sided Pressure Sensitive Adhesive (PSA) tapes.

Essity received 78 points out of a maximum of 100 points in this year's rating, which means that the company is among the 99th percentile of companies assessed. This is the third rating since 2020 that Essity has received a Platinum medal from EcoVadis.

The new strategic partnership will enable both parties to explore new possibilities for the application of VEOCEL™ branded lyocell fibers in flushable nonwoven products to address changing consumer needs.

Survey findings show high rates for employee loyalty, motivation, and likelihood to recommend LP as a place to work.

Mondi launches SolmixBag, a paper packaging solution that dissolves in water, eliminating waste.

Although 2022 was a year of many successes, it was also a year like no other for supply-chain disruptions.

As consumers around the world look to make more sustainable decisions in their day-to-day lives, the move away from single-use plastic bags has been one of the most noticeable packaging trends. Ecobag Network, the largest producer of ecological paper bags in Poland, has recently turned to Stora Enso for a solution that achieves new levels of lightweight strength and production output.

UPM Biomedicals' innovative wound dressing FibDex is undergoing a clinical investigation of performance and safety in patients with superficial dermal burns.

This decline is mainly due to weak sales volumes in its division MM Board & Paper, which the Company had already cautioned about earlier this year.

Availability supports LP's mission to provide an innovative and sustainable portfolio of high-quality products that help customers build beautiful, durable homes.

With a joint investment of approximately Euro 29 million by Stora Enso and Tetra Pak, a new recycling line for post-consumer beverage cartons is starting operations in Poland.

Chemical manufacturer 3M Co. will pay at least $10.3 billion to settle lawsuits over contamination of many U.S. public drinking water systems with potentially harmful compounds used in firefighting foam and a host of consumer products, the company said on Jun. 22.

Funds will support City's infrastructure recovery, help community rebuild.

A dissenting judge called the bankruptcy an illegitimate "shell game".

New Indy attorneys went before a federal judge on Tuesday to push to have one of the many lawsuits against them dismissed.

The Forest Appeals Commission issued a $343,495 penalty for a fire sparked in logging debris left by the company near Nazko in central B.C.

Enviva Inc., the world's leading producer of sustainably sourced woody biomass, breaks ground on its forthcoming Epes plant under construction in Sumter County, AL.

Roseburg Forest Products has received a substantial funding of $3 million to install robotic equipment at its medium-density fibreboard (MDF) plant, providing a significant boost to Canada's forest sector.

Mondi is investing over €16 million at its Krapkowice plant in Poland to increase production of its MailerBAG range.

At capacity, the 1.1 million square foot plant - one of the largest and most modern of the company's 71 factories spread across 25 US states - will provide 375 full-time, high-paying, green-collar manufacturing jobs. That brings Pratt's total workforce to 11,500.

The Italian paper company Sofidel on Monday announced a $185 million expansion of its facility just south of Circleville that could add 100 jobs.

PaperWorks Industries Inc. has completed the acquisition of The Standard Group. Founded in 1932, The Standard Group is a converter of custom printed paperboard packaging with a manufacturing location in Louisville, Kentucky.

Another forest products company has entered into an agreement to purchase the plant in a transaction that is expected to close later this year, RFP said Friday in a news release.

Stora Enso intends to divest its wood products DIY (Do It Yourself) unit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands to Megahout, backed by the private equity company Quadrum Capital. Closing is expected in Q3 2023, subject to regulatory approvals and consultation with employee representatives.

Clearwater Paper said Monday that it named Rebecca Barckley as its interim chief financial officer, effective on July 1, as Michael Murphy will leave the company on Friday.

Metsä Board's folding boxboard capacity expansion at its Husum mill in Sweden is reaching its final phases before start-up. Once the expansion is completed, the mill's BM1 folding boxboard machine will be delivering 600,000 tonnes of premium lightweight folding boxboard every year to consumer packaging and food service end uses all around the world.

Stora Enso opens a new corrugated packaging production factory at De Lier, the Netherlands. The site is part of the recently acquired De Jong Packaging Group, now Business Unit Western Europe in the Packaging Solutions division.

Accelerated end of newspaper production in Steyrermühl determined.

Lecta announced a project to cease the activity on PM4 at its​ Condat mill in France which produces coated woodfree paper (CWF) due to the strong decline in the graphic paper market. A reorganisation project was announced to the employee representatives on which they will be consulted.

Canada is experiencing its most destructive wildfire season on record. What can we learn from this?

Pactiv Evergreen announces that four of the Company's manufacturing facilities were recently awarded International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS designation, three of which were recognized for the third year in a row.

Proposed amendments to the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) could add 8.1bn plastic crates to EU transport sector.

To continuously improve resource efficiency, Mercer International installed new debarking system to reduce wood losses. This system was installed during the mill's annual maintenance shutdown in September 2022 by a Finnish supplier. The new system controls the debarking process so that as little bark as necessary is removed from the log.

Suzano is building a nursery with the capacity to produce 35 million eucalyptus seedlings per year that will meet the demand of the massive forest of its new factory in Ribas do Rio Pardo, Brazil.

UPM Biochemicals is developing new, climate neutral materials produced from sustainably sourced hardwood that will replace fossil-based materials in multiple applications - from footwear and fashion to furniture and automotive.

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. has released its 2022 Sustainability Report, providing a comprehensive disclosure on topics such as climate action, sustainable forestry and environmental performance as well as a newly developed social performance strategy outlining priorities in areas including safety, diversity, equity and inclusion and Indigenous relations.

Thanks to the collaboration between A.Celli and Arctic Paper Kostrzyn, the E-WIND P80 rewinder was successfully started up in record time in the Kostrzyn plant in Poland. Installation, commissioning and start up in just 22 days.

Officials with Domtar say the fire started on a conveyor line, and is now out.

Klabin starts up paper machine 28 (PM28) of Puma II Project in Ortigueira, Paraná, Brazil. Equipped with advanced technology, the machine was designed to produce more resistant and higher quality paperboards, especially for the food and beverage segments.

Norske Skog celebrates grand opening of Bruck PM3, and becoming the go-to supplier for sustainable containerboard production, based on 100% recycled fiber.

It was just over a year ago on May 20, 2022 when a fire devastated the interior of the Tolko Industries mill 8 km west of High Prairie.

The 200 members of Unifor Locals 222Q and 216 at Kruger Wayagamack, a paper mill in Trois-Rivières, Que. ratified a new agreement by 92.3% (222Q) and 93.4% (216) on June 19, ending a three-week strike.

UPM Plywood has completed the change negotiations, which started in May, concerning salaried employees in the staff and global functions, and in its Finnish mills.