The prices of paper and paper products have increased by an average five percent, following an increase in product prices in the international market and additional custom appraisement fee levied on imports.

Yousaf Surmawala, an office bearer of All Pakistan Paper Merchants Association, said that prices of different categories of paper and paper products have been increased by an average five percent due to price hike in the international market.

He said that local millers have also increased rates in line with imported paper. The international cost of waste paper comes at $140 per ton, while import of coated and uncoated paper costs around $720 per ton.

Mohammad Saleem Memon, ex chairman of All Pakistan Paper Merchant Association, said that prices of photocopy paper have been increased from Rs260 per kg to Rs285 per kg, art paper from Rs108 per kg to Rs122 per kg and rates of offset paper mostly used in school books from Rs118 per kg to Rs128 per kg.

Memon said that paper prices have been increased all over the world, besides rupee depreciation and two percent additional customs duty were the prime reasons for the increase in local market prices.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country imported paper and paper products worth $227.133 million in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, registering a decline of 10.84 percent against the imports of $254.741 million in the same period of last fiscal year.

The National Tariff Commission (NTC) has imposed anti-dumping duty for five years on paperboard imports from South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan and China.

Imports from China will face 18.10 percent duty, South Korea 22.24 percent, Indonesia 11.10 percent and imports from Taiwan will face 10.51 percent anti-dumping duty, which was effective from December 27, 2012.

Rapidly spreading port strikes in export-dependent Chile are taking a growing toll on copper, fruit and wood pulp shipments in the world's leading red metal producer, mining and export sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Angamos port in Mejillones launched a strike about three weeks ago to seek a 30-minute lunch break, and other ports have since joined the work stoppage in solidarity. "This strike can end today or it can last 10 more days," Angamos union leader Enrique Solar told Reuters.

Chile is losing more than $200 million a day due to the conflict, according to the country's business chamber.

One shift of workers at the Valparaiso port joined the strike movement on Wednesday, bringing operations there to "half steam," a port worker told Reuters. The ports of Iquique, Antofagasta, Huasco, Caldera, San Antonio and around six smaller ports in the southern Bio Bio region are already on strike, a union leader said.

The port of Arica in the copper-producing North could also join the strike, Iquique port union leader Cesar Luna told Reuters. Around eight boats are waiting in front of the Northern port of Iquique and six are bidding time in Mejillones, Luna said, adding some ships had been re-routed to Peru.

Experts say presidential elections in November have also contributed to an uptick in labor unrest.

WOOD PULP ALSO HIT

In addition to mining metal, Chile is also a big producer of wood pulp, fruits, wine and salmon.

Fruit growers in most of Chile's central-southern regions will temporarily halt harvesting as of Friday, as some 1,600 containers sit at the San Antonio port and producers' losses already total some $50 million, fruit trade group Fedefruta said.

Those losses could climb to $400 million if the strike continues through April, the group added.

Meanwhile, three of forestry and paper company CMPC's units have suspended exports, with 42,000 tonnes of wood pulp waiting to be put on ships, the company's general secretary Gonzalo Garcia said.

"We calculate that the effects of this strike will be felt two months after operations have restarted because the traffic jam at ports will be huge and there will be a long line to load ships," Garcia said.

Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP) has issued a report showing that allegations of its Forest Moratorium being violated are unfounded.

The report has been issued following a complaint received from a consortium of local NGOs (Relawan Pemantau Hutan Kalimantan / RPHK) that two of its suppliers were clearing natural forest in West Kalimantan Province, in direct contradiction to APP’s Forest Conservation Policy announced on February 5th. The cornerstones of this policy are a commitment to zero deforestation throughout APP’s supply chain, and a clear grievance procedure.

On the day of the complaints, APP stated, “We, and our partner TFT, are investigating these allegations, and in the interests of complete transparency, will publish our findings as soon as they are available.” The company added that it could not draw a conclusion until it had all the facts to hand.

APP has now received The Forest Trust’s (TFT) full technical report available here. It includes accurate GPS mapping of the areas under investigation, records of discussions with the contractors on-site, and analysis of ground level activity as well as examination of inter-company relationships.

The two allegations made are related to activities carried out by DTK (PT Daya Tani Kalbar) and ATP (PT Asia Tani Persada), both of which are suppliers to APP. In both cases there was clearance of natural forest being undertaken, but in neither instance was the clearance related to APP. Therefore neither APP, nor its suppliers, are in breach of its moratorium.

In both cases, however, the over-riding issue is concession overlap. So far as DTK is concerned, clearance was for the development of a palm oil plantation owned by a company, Gerbang Benua Raya (GBR). There is evidence of old land clearance, and there are oil palms that are about 18-months old.

In the case of ATP, TFT found canal construction through forested peatland, being carried out on behalf of a Bauxite mining business, Karya Utama Tambang Jaya (KUTJ), a company unrelated to APP. Additionally, this activity is taking place outside the APP moratorium area, according to mapping data.

In neither case is there any evidence of cross-ownership between APP’s suppliers and both companies (GBR and KUTJ). APP and TFT are therefore confident, based on the evidence in the report, that on this occasion the allegations made that suppliers were in breach of the APP Forest Conservation Policy are unfounded.

Aida Greenbury, APP’s Managing Director of Sustainability, said, “We committed to full transparency and to independent investigation through our Grievance Protocol of any alleged breach in our moratorium on natural forest clearance. This is an example of our commitment in action. Despite unsubstantiated commentary by some parties, we said from the start that we would not speculate before the facts were known. We will continue to adhere to our grievance procedures. Where there are concerns, we urge communities and NGOs to bring them to our attention and we promise we will be thorough in our investigation, as we have been in this case. We also reiterate the fact that if a supplier were found to be in breach of our Forest Conservation Policy, we will not hesitate to take swift action.”

“There is a wider issue at stake,” she continued. “Licensing and concession overlap is not uncommon in Indonesia. It is clear that there must be greater precision in governance. Currently, APP and TFT are mapping all overlapping areas in our suppliers’ concessions. Once we have all the details, we will adopt a strategy to resolve this and protect the integrity of the natural forests in the areas, together with other stakeholders, national government and provincial legislatures. We urge other forest dependent businesses, communities and NGOs to join us in helping to make this happen.”

Asia’s leading trade event for the Pulp, Paper and Board Industry will open its doors to a bigger show with more booths and pavilions at the Queen Sirikit National Convention, Bangkok, Thailand, from 23-25 April, 2014.

With 168 exhibitors from 24 countries and over 4,500 attendees from 60 countries at the successfully concluded 2012 edition, UBM Asia Trade Fairs welcome returning exhibitors and new exhibitors to reinforce their industry status and create more brand awareness at the coming 2014 edition.

Joining ranks with the Asian Paper 2014 country pavilions from China, Finland and France, the coming edition will also showcase 2 new pavilions, namely from India as well as Singapore.

With the support of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), Asian Paper 2014 will be rolling out a Hosted Buyer Programme where genuine international buyers will be tied up with exhibitors through the Business Matching Programme. Naturally, we are targeting the invitation of more Mill Owners and buyers to the fair with the promise of a Special Asian Paper Express MICE Lane concierge service experience, right from the moment they touch down at the Bangkok International Airport Arrival Hall up until we introduce these Buyers to our Exhibitors at the show.

Do not miss this opportunity to meet genuine international buyers. Make a booking with us NOW to secure your prime booth location, and plan for your Thailand company trip!

Please contact us or visit www.asianpapershow.com for more information on the Exhibition, Conference, Sponsorship and Networking Opportunities.

We look forward to seeing you at Asian Paper 2014!

Optomec announced today that the Company’s Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio in the field of Additive Manufacturing grew to 35 patents with the addition of six new patents granted in 2012. These new patents cover inventions for the Company’s Aerosol Jet technology used for Printed Electronics. Optomec also announced it has received notices of allowance for additional patents which are expected to be granted in 2013.

The newly granted patents included three in the United States and three in Asia. Of particular note, Optomec received protection for its technologies that enable printing of high conductivity circuitry onto temperature sensitive plastic (low cost) substrates using laser curing techniques. Additionally, the company received patents in the area of printed passive structures (i.e.: resistors, antenna, etc); tilting of the head to enable printing on 3D surfaces; and high resolution printing for fine feature electronics.

Finally, Optomec received several patents protecting hardware enhancements that enable high throughput printing for high volume manufacturing applications. These include multiplexing strategies for key elements of the Aerosol Jet system, including the atomizer that serves as the input mechanism, and the focusing head that defines printed output.

Dave Ramahi, President/CEO of Optomec, stated, “Optomec’s growing patent portfolio is testimony to the unique and enabling nature of our underlying technology. These recent awards, combined with our broader IP portfolio, help ensure that our customers can enjoy a critical competitive advantage as they adopt our solutions for high volume manufacturing of their own products.”

Aerosol Jet is a registered trademark of Optomec, Inc.

The Eyes on the Forest (EoF) coalition has found that the forest conservation policy of Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of the world’s biggest pulp and paper producers, covers up almost three decades deforestation and destruction in Sumatra.

“The policy of APP protects a maximum of 5,000 hectares while the company has destroyed more 1.4 million hectares,” said Muslim Rasyid of Jikalahari.

Concession permits obtained by APP’s provider companies in Riau have destroyed more than 680,000 hectares of forests since 1984. Around 83 percent of the destroyed forests used to be home to the Sumatran tiger and Sumatran elephant.

“The APP’s new policy has no commitment to rehabilitate natural forests and peatland to compensate for serious damage in the past,” said Hajriansyah Usman of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI).

He said the appraisal of high conservation value forest (HCVF) and high carbon stock forest was conducted in concession areas that had just been cleared. This tactic decreased both the conservation and carbon stock value of the forests.

“Our analysis concluded that APP has manipulated the public with its conservation activities so they are unaware of violations it conducted in the past,” said Hajriansyah. (ebf)

The timber industry is taking an interest in how much the Minnesota Legislature appropriates to forest management.

Although the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been operating with about 100 fewer foresters than it had just a few years ago, the department still has consistently produced about 800,000 cords of wood a year. That number is a general marker of what’s needed to help sustain the timber industry.

But that output would have decreased significantly under Gov. Mark Dayton’s original budget proposal issued in January, industry representatives said. The additional $2 million per year proposed in that budget wouldn’t have been enough to cover decreases in other DNR forestry funds, said Wayne Brandt, executive vice president of the Minnesota Timber Producers Association.

“The previously proposed level would have caused (the DNR) to reduce their timber sale offerings by 200,000 to 250,000 cords a year,” Brandt said. “We think that would have had a very, very significant negative impact.”

But in his revised budget released last month, Dayton appropriated $8 million more for forest management than it was forecast to receive in the next two years.

“If we get that, that will allow us to hire a number of new foresters,” said Dave Thomas, the DNR’s northwest regional forestry manager. “We’re struggling to get out 800,000 cords per year with the limited amount of staff we’ve got right now.”

In fiscal year 2008-09, the forest management department was budgeted for $71.6 million in general fund expenditures. That number has been reduced to $38.4 million in the 2012-13 fiscal year.

At the same time, the department has seen decreases in the forest management investment account, which is funded by revenue from wood sales, making it subject to market and natural forces outside the control of lawmakers.

Craig Schmid, the DNR’s deputy forestry director, said wood prices have been split about in half since the recession hit, and the DNR had to sell timber from blow-down areas last year. That damaged timber sells for about a third of what it would normally.

Dayton’s revised budget proposal would help the DNR cover losses in the forest management investment account and continue to put out the 800,000 cords of wood per year, Schmid said.

To keep wood outputs steady with fewer staff, Schmid said the forestry division has streamlined operations to focus on producing timber, fire prevention and planting trees.

“We’re getting about 15 retirements a year,” Schmid said. “And we’ve gotten to the point where we wouldn’t be able to offer that 800,000 cords of timber. We just don’t have enough people left to do it.”

“And the forest industry, they obviously perk up when they hear that,” Schmid added.

Public landowners like the DNR have become important to the timber industry. Because prices dropped in recent years, some private landowners have been reluctant to sell wood in hopes that prices rise again, Brandt said.

“The lack of availability of private wood has been the reason why the public wood has been so important to us,” Brandt said.

Dustin Harback lives steps from the Allied Paper landfill site. His 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son go to Parkwood Upjohn Elementary School and his family drives by the landfill daily.