A licensing agreement to further develop and commercialise of a method for producing Micro-Crystalline Cellulose (MCC) from paper mill waste has been signed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Yissum Research Development Company (YRDC) and bio-based composite research company, Melodea.

According to YRDC the MCC is processed into micro-structured foams, which can replace fossil fuel-based foams in a vast variety of applications. It is produced by processing wood pulp.

The company claimed that MCC is considered an environmentally friendly option for a variety of materials, including plastic and metal, and is transparent, strong, cost-effective, and safer than non-organic alternatives.

During the process of paper production, around 30% of the total fibres initially produced are washed as sludge. According to the YRDC, in Europe alone, eleven million tonnes of this waste is produced annually.

The company explained that the scientists found that fibres from paper mill sludge to be an ideal source for MCC production, and have also developed a method of processing MCC into micro-structured foams which are highly porous and light weight.

The new MCC based foams display technical performance which matches current high end synthetic foams. Application of these 100% bio-based foams, as core material in sandwich composites as well as in other fields, is currently being developed, added the YRDC.

The technology itself was developed by Professor Oded Shoseyov and Dr. Shaul Lapidot from the Robert H. Smith from the university's Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment, and co-founders of Melodea together with Tord Gustafsson - a Swedish composite material expert.

"Micro-Crystalline Cellulose is one of the most promising materials currently being developed. The variety of applications for MCC is vast, and could potentially make non-organic plastics a distant memory," commented Shoseyov.

Funding for a major study into the future strategic needs of the forestry industry in the State's south-east has been boosted to more than $1 million.

Manufacturing Innovation and Trade Minister, Tom Kenyon today announced a further $330,000 was being provided by the State Government for Stage 2 of the Cellulose Fibre Chain Study with the federal government committing another $250,000.

"This is on top of a $500,000 contribution from the State Government in October last year for Stage 1 of this vital study," Mr Kenyon said.

"The south east forestry industry accounts for approximately 35 percent of local employment and offers great potential for the region to secure a sustainable economic future.

"The Cellulose Fibre Chain Study - part of the State Government's Manufacturing Works strategy - involves working with local industry to identify short, medium and longer term sustainable and achievable market opportunities.

"This is an important project for South Australia's economy as developing higher-value forestry products is the key to creating a sustainable future for the forestry industry.

"That's why we went out and actively sought the involvement of the VTT Technical Research Centre in Finland.

"They're world leaders in translating cellulose fibre opportunity research into tangible business opportunities with global connections to major international cellulose fibre players and investors."

Mr Kenyon said the VTT's Stage 1 report released today included analysis of the value chains associated with the south east forestry sector and the landscape for future opportunities based on interviews with more than 20 industry groups.

Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation, Greg Combet said he was pleased to support the study which could prepare south east South Australia to compete internationally in the forestry industry by producing niche, high-value products of its own.

"This project presents a great opportunity to develop an innovative, renewable feedstock for industry in South Australia," Mr Combet said.

"We've seen examples of the benefits of an innovative cellulose fibre value-chain in Northern Europe, so I look forward to supporting South Australian companies interested in working towards that.

"The Federal Government is proud to be funding this initiative with the South Australian Government and we will continue to support local innovation and local manufacturing jobs in SA's south-east."

Stage 1 of the study indicated:

• There is general agreement on the need to renew the industry
• In the absence of a pulp mill in Mt Gambier area, the use of chips and saw dust for bioenergy, biochemical or biomaterial generation should be given serious consideration
• The future of the industry should not be based on a low Australian dollar
• Raw material in the Green Triangle is cheaper than corresponding material in Scandinavia
• Average sales price in Australia for sawn timber appear higher than prices in Northern Europe
• However, low profitability in Australia appears to be linked to poorer yield for average size logs
• The industry has not been implementing modern process technologies
• A more highly trained workforce is necessary to improve industry profitability.

Mr Kenyon said the additional $580,000 funding for Stage 2 would enable the VTT to develop a plan for producing more sustainable and higher-value products.

"This will involve an analysis of local industry readiness to take up new technology, consultation with the industry globally, particularly in Northern Europe, preparing a draft agenda for joint research and development projects and policy recommendations to State Government."

source: investinaustralia.com

The paper industry has grown rapidly at a rate of 15-17 percent over the past five years, producing more than 2 million tonnes and supplying 64 percent of the domestic market annually.

Senator Investment Group, a hedge fund managed by Doug Silverman, has disclosed a position of over 23 million shares in International Paper IP-0.26% . This gives the fund 5.2% of the total shares outstanding of the $21 billion market cap manufacturer of paper and packaging products. We track 13F filings from funds such as Senator as part of our work researching investment strategies (we have found, for example, that the most popular small cap stocks among hedge funds earn an average excess return of 18 percentage points per year), and so we can see that at the beginning of January Silverman and his team only owned 4.2 million shares of the stock as well as 3.5 million call options (see more of Silverman's stock picks).

Senator was the largest shareholder out of the hedge funds and other notable investors which we track in our database, but others had positions in International Paper as well. Billionaire Dan Loeb's Third Point initiated a position of 1.5 million shares in the fourth quarter of 2012. Vinik Asset Management, managed by billionaire Jeffrey Vinik, cut its stake by 9% between October and December but still closed 2012 with 1.6 million shares in its portfolio. Iridian Asset Management was another major shareholder, reporting ownership of 3.1 million shares; that fund is managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy.

In 2012, International Paper grew its revenue by 7% compared with 2011. Earnings shrunk significantly if restructuring charges are included as costs in both years; the paper industry in general is in a period of transition, and for the next couple of years we would imagine that "special items" will continue to affect the bottom line of International Paper and its peers. With these factors bringing net income down for the year, the stock trades at 26 times its trailing earnings. Analyst expectations are for business conditions to improve over the next couple of years, and as a result the forward P/E is only 10- which would represent pure value levels for a company which at least in recent years has managed to grow its sales. Looking out further, the five-year PEG ratio is low at 0.4; we'd also note that International Paper pays a dividend yield of 2.7%.

Other providers of paper and packaging products include Domtar UFS-1.44% , MeadWestvaco MWV-0.58% , Clearwater Paper CLW-2.00% , and KapStone Paper and Packaging KS-1.44% . Each of these companies also carries a large discrepancy between their trailing and forward earnings multiples, as the sell-side seems to be expecting the industry as a whole to do better as well as the possibility of ending restructuring charges. While all four of these stocks carry trailing P/Es in the 20 to 30 range, meaning that International Paper isn't particularly overpriced compare to its peers, in terms of 2014 numbers the multiples are generally between 10 and 13. The exception is MeadWestvaco, a packaging company which is valued at 18 times consensus earnings or that year. This means that International Paper- by far the largest of this peer group- is also the cheapest assuming that analyst expectations are correct.

Of course we'd be wary of taking Street projections at face value, and in absolute terms International Paper would be too dependent on future improvement in order to be a good buy in our opinion. Yet if an investor is interested in paper and packaging we look at the company compared with its peers and it seems to have at least as good prospects, a relatively low valuation in terms of forward estimates, and yet a considerably higher market capitalization. As such those looking or names in the industry should probably start their search by looking more closely into how International Paper's charges might unfold over time.

source: http://www.marketwatch.com

From 2004 to 2010, book publishers increased their use of recycled fiber by nearly five times, from 5 percent to 24 percent on average, according to a new report by the Book Industry Environmental Council (BIEC) and Green Press Initiative. The report, which depends on voluntary statistics from the book industry, also found that nearly all (89 percent) of book publishers have environmental policies.

"[The report] tells a story of a collaborative effort in which U.S Book Publishers, Print Suppliers, Paper Suppliers, Retailers and ENGO’s have together effected measureable, important change," Bill Rojack, who chairs the BIEC tracking committee, said in a statement. "At the same time, this report provides a framework to track progress going forward. It’s a great start and an important tool that we hope the industry will embrace going forward."

The publishing industry has been hit by scandal in recent years as activist groups such as the Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace have connected some publishers to the destruction of rainforest in Indonesia. The fallout led to many top publishers in the U.S. to establish environmental and sustainability policies.

The report, dubbed Book Industry Environmental Trends, also found that book publishers are also turning more toward certification programs, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). From 2002 to 2010, paper certified by the FSC has jumped from less than 5 percent to 16 percent. However both FSC and SFI have been criticized by some environmental groups for dependence on old-growth forests as well as monoculture plantations.

But the rising use of recycled fiber has probably had the most environmental benefit: 5.25 million trees were saved and greenhouse gas emission were reduced by 1.02 million metric tons.

Another important trend was the increase in electronic books. The report found that electronic books increased from 4 percent in 2002 to 7 percent in 2010.

Still the report warns that its findings are limited by publisher responses. In all responses accounted for around 44 percent of the paper consumed by the book industry.

source: mongabay.com

Sonoco has announced today that M. Jack Sanders has taken over as president and chief executive officer following his election by the Company's board of directors. Sanders, 59, succeedsHarris E. DeLoach Jr., who retired as CEO after a 27-year career with the Company. As announced in December, DeLoach, 68, remains Sonoco's executive chairman of the board.

"I'm extremely proud and honored to be elected to lead such a great company," said Sanders, who is only the Company's eighth CEO in its 114-year history. "Sonoco was founded on creativity, hard work, a spirit of innovation and a focus on satisfying our customers while creating value for our shareholders. We want to continue building on past successes and defining a new future for this exceptional company."

A graduate of Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance, Sanders joined Sonoco in 1988 as national sales and marketing manager for the Company's Reels business. In 1992, he was asked to build and lead the development of Sonoco's new Protective Packaging business as its general manager and in 1998 was promoted to division vice president and general manager. 

Sanders was elected a corporate officer and named vice president, Industrial Products, North America, in 2001. He was subsequently named vice president, Global Industrial Products, in January 2006 and assumed responsibility for all Industrial Converting businesses as senior vice president in July 2007. In 2008, Sanders was named executive vice president, Industrial, with global operating responsibility for all of the Company's businesses serving industrial markets, including Sonoco's tubes and cores, paper, reels, protective packaging, paperboard specialties and recycling businesses. Prior to assuming his current position, Sanders served as the executive vice president of Sonoco's Global Consumer businesses, where he was responsible for Rigid Paper and Closures, Rigid Plastics, Flexible Packaging, and Display and Packaging.

SOURCE Sonoco

Celanese Corporation, a global technology and specialty materials company and a global leader in emulsion polymers, has announced it will increase the price of vinyl acetate ethylene (VAE) emulsions sold in the Americas by up to $0.04 / wet pound effective April 15, 2013, or as contracts allow.

This price increase affects all applications including, but not limited to, adhesives, paint and coatings, building and construction, nonwovens, glass fiber, carpet, paper and textiles.

Customers should contact their Celanese sales representative for more details.

Source: Celanese Corporation

NewPage Holdings Inc. (NewPage) has posted its 2012 Annual Report on the NewPage Corporation website, www.NewPageCorp.com.

About NewPage Corporation

NewPage is a leading producer of printing and specialty papers in North America with $3.1 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2012. NewPage is headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, and owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 3.5 million tons of paper.

The company's portfolio of paper products includes coated, supercalendered and specialty papers. These papers are used in commercial printing to create corporate collateral, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts and direct mail as well as in specialty paper applications including beverage bottle labels, food and medical packaging, pressure-sensitive labels and release liners. To learn more, visit www.NewPageCorp.com.

SOURCE NewPage Corporation

Verso Paper C orp. (NYSE:VRS) has announced that PalletOne of Maine has been selected to receive a Verso Forest Certification Grant. The grant will enable PalletOne to seek independent Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) Chain of Custody (COC) certification for its pallet mill operation in Livermore Falls, Maine.

PalletOne already purchases a portion of its wood supply from FSC-certified forests in New England and sells residual wood chips to Verso's paper mill in nearby Jay, Maine. Achieving COC certification will allow PalletOne to increase the amount of FSC-certified material available to Verso and ultimately to Verso's paper customers who prefer FSC-certified products. In addition to the grant, Verso will provide technical expertise to assist in the certification process.

"Verso has a long history of promoting sustainability by supporting a variety of certification initiatives within our wood supply chain," said Verso Fiber Supply Manager Jim Contino. "We launched the Verso Forest Certification Grant program last year to increase certified fiber available to our mills, and the PalletOne project is well suited to our criteria. PalletOne is a trusted and long-term chip supplier to Verso's Androscoggin Mill and we are pleased to award this grant as part of our ongoing effort to increase the availability of certified fiber in the marketplace."

"We could not complete this certification without Verso's funding and technical expertise," said PalletOne Vice President Donnie Isaacson. "We are pleased to preserve FSC credits through our sawmill that create value for Verso's paper customers while developing COC certification within our organization."

Source: Verso Paper Corp.