Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonoco (NYSE:SON), one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, is making multi-million dollar investments in three of its European uncoated recycled paperboard (URB) mills to improve their energy efficiency, product range and environmental performance. The projects will be completed during scheduled downtime in August and September 2011.

According to Adam Wood, division vice president and general manager of Sonoco-Alcore, "These investments are part of a continuing program to improve the product quality and cost competitiveness of our European mills, which are the largest producers of coreboard in Europe. Our commitment to sustainability and customer satisfaction are at the forefront of our thinking during our capital planning process."

"Our Cirie (TO), Italy, mill will benefit from a new DCS, a new energy-from-biogas system, and CHP upgrades and we are improving our effluent treatment system," said Dino Kiriakopoulos, director of Sonoco-Alcore's European Operations. "Our investment in Cirie continues our 2010 capital investment efforts, which are focused on lowering energy costs and continuing to be good stewards of the environment."

Kiriakopoulos said that Sonoco-Alcore also will be making additional investments at its Kilkis, Greece, and Nordhorn, Germany, mills this summer.

"At Kilkis, we will be installing a new high-efficiency boiler, heat recovery system and drive upgrades that will significantly lower energy costs and provide some capacity expansion. At Nordhorn, we are upgrading our refining and press sections to further reduce the steam and electricity consumption for each tonne of the high quality specialty board produced there."

SOURCE: Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l.

In the 2010 business year, HIMA achieved sales of €75.1 million, an 11% increase over the previous year. For the 2011 business year, HIMA is forecasting sales to increase at an even faster pace.

The company’s success in 2010 and optimistic outlook can be traced to its significant strengths – commercial self-sufficiency, corporate independence and an outstanding customer-orientation focus.

Even during the worldwide economic crisis in 2009, HIMA recorded a sales decrease of just 8.6%, reflecting the importance of safety, HIMA’s business resilience and the introduction of the HIMax^® safety system in 2008. In fact, the company recorded a 2% increase in orders received during 2009 and was able to avoid layoffs.

Since its introduction, the HIMax safety system has ensured plant safety at a variety of companies around the world, while demand continues to increase. Thanks to the nonstop operation of the system throughout the entire plant lifecycle, HIMA was able to secure several major international projects. These include a five-year framework agreement recently concluded with BP for the supply of safety systems for five North American refineries.

Due to its extremely high performance, HIMax offers new possibilities for integrated applications. In the field of turbo machinery control and burner control systems, these possibilities have resulted in successful implementations. Further investments in developing integrated applications are planned.

During 2010, the topic of “functional safety” continued to gain importance worldwide. The demand for safety experts who support plant operators throughout the entire safety lifecycle or help to introduce a functional safety management system is growing steadily. A leader in functional safety, HIMA continues to invest in expanding its safety lifecycle services.

In 2011, HIMA is focusing on developing new and enhanced safety-related solutions for the oil and gas industry and the chemical and petrochemical sector. Logistics and machine safety as well as railway solutions will also be further extended.

HIMA’s worldwide expansion is continuing. With 10 subsidiaries, a joint venture in China and numerous representatives in more than 50 countries, HIMA is a recognized worldwide safety leader. More than 70% of sales are generated outside Germany, with more than 50% outside Europe. While sales and engineering services expansions are planned worldwide, especially in Latin America, Russia and Asia; HIMA will continue to be develop, produce and test products exclusively in Germany.

As sponsor of the Namur Annual General Meeting in 2010, HIMA was able to demonstrate its capacity as an expert for functional safety and consolidate its strong market position, which will be further expanded worldwide in the next few years.

Gardner Denver, Inc. has announced that its Board of Directors appointed Mr. John D. Craig to serve as an independent director of the company, effective November 2011 concurrent with the retirement of Mr. Frank J. Hansen. Barry L. Pennypacker, Gardner Denver's President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We are very pleased to have John join the Board of Directors. He brings a wealth of leadership and management expertise that has been accumulated during his distinguished career and his operational principles mirror those of the Gardner Denver Way."

Mr. Craig is the Chairman of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer of EnerSys, a publicly held manufacturer of industrial batteries and associated stored energy solutions and services. Mr. Craig joined EnerSys' predecessor company, Yuasa, Inc., in 1994 and has held a series of senior management positions of increasing responsibility, including President and Chief Operating Officer, a position he held from 1998 to 2000 when he was promoted to his current position. Mr. Craig earned his Bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University and a Master's Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from Arizona State University.

Ahlstrom Corporation will publish its January-June 2011 interim report on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 before 10.00 a.m. Finnish time (+1 CET).

Ahlstrom's President & CEO Jan Lång and CFO Seppo Parvi will present the interim report in Finnish at a press and analyst conference in Helsinki on Wednesday, August 10 at 1.30 p.m. Finnish time. The conference will take place at event arena Bank, Unioninkatu 20, 2^nd floor. The name of the meeting room will be displayed on the board in the lobby.

In addition, CEO Lång and CFO Parvi will hold a conference call in English on the same day at 5 p.m. Finnish time. To participate in the teleconference, please dial +358 (0)9 2319 4250 in Finland or +44 (0)20 7136 6283 outside Finland a few minutes before the conference begins. The confirmation code is 6345530.

The event can also be viewed as a live audio webcast at www.ahlstrom.com. Registration is required. It is possible to participate in the Q & A session via teleconference or online.

An on-demand audio webcast of the conference will be available on Ahlstrom's website for twelve months after the call.

The presentation material will be available at www.ahlstrom.com > Investors > Reports and presentations > 2011 after the interim report has been published.

BASF will consolidate the production of PAM beads into its Bradford facility, Great Britain, where the company operates a backward integrated production plant with worldwide supply capability Significant investment will be made to increase and upgrade the bead capacity at the Bradford site, and this will ensure a consistent supply of PAM beads to BASF’s customers globally.

PAM products are a state-of-the-art product range for use in solid-liquid separation processes. They are available as powders and beads or in liquid form (inverse emulsions) and are extensively used in the global growth markets for Water Treatment, Oilfield and Mining as well as Paper Chemicals.

As a result of the consolidation, BASF intends to close down its PAM bead production unit at its Suffolk site, Virginia, effective January 2012. Other production activities are not affected by the shift in production. The production unit was considered too small to support the strong growth path for BASF’s Water Treatment and Oilfield and Mining Chemicals businesses in North America. About 50 BASF employees will be affected. From January 2012, North American customers will be supplied with PAM beads from Bradford, Great Britain, which already supplies the North American market with other PAM products.

The consolidation of PAM bead production complements other strategic measures and investments geared towards profitable growth in BASF’s key markets Water Treatment, Oilfield, Mining as well as Paper Chemicals. These measures include investing in world-scale backward integrated production plants for Water Treatment and Paper Chemicals in Nanjing, China, with capacities of 40,000 tons of quaternized cationic monomers and 20,000 tons of cationic Polyacrylamides per year, as well as significant capacity expansions for cationic monomers in West Memphis, Arkansas, and for inverse emulsions in Suffolk, Virginia.

“BASF is well positioned to meet the growing customer demand in the water treatment industry due to our excellent position in the value chain”, explains Dr. Matthias Halusa, head of BASF’s Water Solutions business. “ The consolidation of PAM bead production is strengthening our business and, together with our focused investment at our West Memphis and Suffolk sites, it will also support BASF’s profitable growth strategy for North America. We will continue to serve our valued customers in this important region by supplying them with our high-quality and innovative PAM products and services. North America plays a central role in our global Water Solutions strategy.”

Denise M. Joost, head of BASF’s Oilfield and Mining Chemicals business in North America adds: “For the Oilfield and Mining Chemicals businesses, the shift of the bead production from Suffolk to Bradford is another step in our strategy to optimize our production assets globally so that we ensure competitive bead supply to our customers in North America, which will remain a key region for the growing oilfield and mining industries.”

Application of Polyacrylamide (PAM)

Due to their outstanding properties PAM products play a key role in BASF’s portfolio for the growth markets for Water Treatment, Oilfield and Mining as well as Paper Chemicals:

• *In the water treatment industry, PAM is mainly used for various solid-liquid separation applications in drinking water and sludge dewatering processes.
• *In the mining industry, PAM beads are primarily used for mineral extraction processes and water recovery with main application in binders and specialty flocculants.
• *In the oilfield industry specialty PAM beads are primarily used in drilling.
• *In the paper industry, the PAM product range is used for retention and drainage in paper and paperboard machines as well as in the paper mill effluent treatment process.

Stora Enso has completed the acquisition of 51% of the Chinese packaging company Inpac International as announced on 27 October 2010. The enterprise value of the company is EUR 80 million. Stora Enso will also purchase the production plant site and buildings at Qian’an in northern China for approximately EUR 13 million.

Following the acquisition, the new Inpac business unit will be reported as part of Stora Enso’s Industrial Packaging segment results from the third quarter of 2011 onwards.

International Paper has reported second-quarter 2011 net earnings attributable to common shareholders totaling $224 million ($ $0.52 per share) compared with net earnings of $342 million ($0.78 per share) in the first-quarter of 2011 and $93 million ($0.21 per share) in the second-quarter of 2010. Amounts in all periods include the impact of special items.

Earnings from continuing operations and before special items in the 2011 second-quarter totaled $343 million ($0.80 per share), compared with $322 million ($0.74 per share) in the first- quarter of 2011 and $181 million ($0.42 per share) in the second-quarter of 2010.

Quarterly net sales were $6.6 billion in the second-quarter compared with $6.4 billion in the first-quarter of 2011 and $6.1 billion in the second-quarter of 2010.

Operating profits were $483 million in the second-quarter of 2011, compared with $585 million in the first-quarter of 2011 and $353 million in the second-quarter of 2010, all of which included special items.

“In what remains a slow and extended economic recovery, International Paper continues to demonstrate solid performance and strong free cash flow,” said John Faraci, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We are the only paper and packaging company in the world with a truly global footprint, and it’s this balanced global portfolio, along with favorable cost management and a sharp focus on operations that have driven our results the last four quarters.”

SEGMENT INFORMATION
To measure the performance of the company’s business segments from quarter-to-quarter without variations caused by special items, management focuses on business segment operating profits excluding those items. Second-quarter 2011 segment operating profits and business trends, excluding special items, compared with the prior quarter are as follows:

Industrial Packaging operating profit was $269 million compared with an operating profit of $274 million ($279 million including special items) in the first-quarter of 2011. Second-quarter earnings were positively impacted by seasonally higher box shipments (generating 150 thousand tons of higher shipments), partly offset by increased mill outage costs. In addition, area flooding near the Vicksburg, Mississippi, mill caused a 49 day shutdown, approximately 80,000 tons of lost production and expenses of approximately $20 million in the quarter. Despite the lost production our domestic customers experienced no supply interruptions.

Printing Papers operating profit was $222 million ($243 million including special items) compared with an operating profit of $209 million ($201 million including special items) in the first-quarter of 2011. The second-quarter earnings improvement in North America of $32 million versus the first-quarter of 2011 reflected improved mill operations, lower planned maintenance expense, partially offset by continued increases for input and distribution fuel costs. Earnings in Europe and Brazil decreased primarily due to higher mill maintenance outage costs.

Consumer Packaging operating profit was $98 million (a loss of $33 million including special items) compared with an operating profit of $101 million ($100 million including special items) in the first-quarter of 2011. Further price realization and strong manufacturing performance helped mitigate escalating input costs in both North America and Asia and higher mill outage costs.

xpedx, the company’s North American distribution business, reported operating earnings of $14 million ($4 million including special items) compared with $12 million in the first-quarter of 2011 ($5 million including special items). The improvement in earnings was due to higher sales volumes and lower operating costs partially offset by lower margins.

Net corporate expenses for the 2011 second-quarter totaled $36 million, compared with $44 million in the first-quarter of 2011 and $54 million in the second-quarter of 2010. The decrease compared with both the 2011 first-quarter and 2010 second-quarter reflects lower supply chain project costs. The decrease compared with the 2010 second-quarter also reflects lower pension costs.

EFFECTIVE TAX RATE
The effective tax rate from continuing operations and before special items was 33% in both the second-quarter and first-quarter of 2011.

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The company reported net earnings of $13.9 million, or $1.17 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2011, compared to net earnings of $20.6 million, or $1.75 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010. The second quarter 2011 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, was $52.4 million, compared to $49.2 million in the second quarter of 2010. EBITDA in the second quarter of 2011 includes $9.1 million of Cellu Tissue integration-related expenses and tissue expansion costs related to Shelby.

Clearwater Paper acquired Cellu Tissue Holdings, Inc. on December 27, 2010. The second quarter of 2011 includes Cellu Tissue's results, which is the primary reason for many of the variances on a year-over-year basis.

"Second quarter results were solid after considering the significant cost pressures for many of our inputs," said Gordon Jones, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "We continue to make good progress on integrating Cellu Tissue and on increasing the value we expect this acquisition to bring to Clearwater Paper. As a result, we are pleased to increase our estimated net annual synergies from $15-$20 million to $35-$40 million, expected to be achieved by the end of 2012.

"Additionally, we recently celebrated the grand opening of our converting and distribution facility at Shelby, North Carolina, with the start-up of the first two converting lines," added Jones.

The company also separately announced today a 2-for-1 stock split in the form of a stock dividend and the Board of Director's approval of a $30 million stock repurchase program.

SECOND QUARTER 2011 SEGMENT PERFORMANCE

Consumer Products

Net sales in the Consumer Products segment were $269.1 million for the second quarter of 2011, as compared to second quarter 2010 net sales of $145.4 million. The increase in net sales was primarily attributable to the inclusion of Cellu Tissue's operating results for the full quarter. Operating income for the second quarter of 2011 was $6.9 million, compared with operating income of $25.6 million for the second quarter of 2010. The decrease in operating income was primarily the result of increased operating costs, including $9.1 million of integration-related expenses and Shelby expansion costs, as well as $1.1 million in depreciation and amortization expense associated with acquisition accounting.

Tissue volume increased to 128,762 tons in the second quarter of 2011, as compared to 55,486 tons in the second quarter of 2010, with the increase primarily attributable to the addition of Cellu Tissue volumes. Including Cellu Tissue in our second quarter 2010 results would have resulted in pro forma volume of 138,065 tons. The decrease in pro forma tons sold by the combined company was primarily due to converting more parent rolls into finished cases, which results in a yield loss associated with the process of manufacturing finished cases.

Net selling prices decreased to $2,088 per ton in the second quarter of 2011 versus $2,620 in the second quarter of 2010, due primarily to the inclusion of Cellu Tissue products in the total product mix for the 2011 period. Cellu Tissue's operations had a broader range of products and tissue grades than the legacy Clearwater Paper facilities. On a pro forma basis, net selling prices were $2,026 in the second quarter of 2010.

Operating costs were comparatively higher in all categories as a result of the inclusion of Cellu Tissue's operations in our results. Cost increases that had the biggest impact on the decline in operating income were salaries and wages associated with our Shelby expansion, relocation and severance costs associated with the acquisition of Cellu Tissue and retroactive pay related to labor contracts. In addition, we saw higher costs in packaging supplies, transportation due to higher oil prices, pulp, depreciation and amortization due to acquisition accounting and additional repair and maintenance expense associated with the Cellu Tissue facilities.

Pulp and Paperboard

Net sales of $225.5 million for the second quarter of 2011 were up 13.6%, compared to second quarter 2010 net sales of $198.5 million. Operating income for the quarter rose to $34.5 million, compared to $22.7 million for the second quarter of 2010.

Higher net sales for the quarter were driven by a 10.4% increase in paperboard pricing and a 7.3% increase in paperboard volumes to 201,991 tons, compared to the second quarter of 2010.

The increase in net sales was partially offset by an 8.4% decline in external pulp pricing to $718 per ton and a 16.3% decline in external pulp volumes to 11,140 tons, largely due to increased internal consumption of pulp.

No major maintenance expense was included in either second quarter 2011 or 2010.

Taxes

The actual income tax rate for the second quarter of 2011 was 38.3%, compared to an actual rate of 38.0% for the second quarter of 2010. The estimated annual effective tax rate for 2011, without discrete items, is expected to be approximately 35.2%.

Chiampo is the second Burgo Group paper mill to have achieved UNI EN 15593:2008 certification for "Management of hygiene in the production of packaging for foodstuffs" related to manufacturing of coated and uncoated papers.

This certification, which was achieved through the SGS certification agency, is further guarantee of the quality of the Group's management systems in the implementation of good manufacturing practices in the production of materials that come into contact with foods.

The Chiampo paper mill can therefore guarantee, now thanks also to this certification, that its products comply with the legal requirements applicable for food safety, helping to protect the image of those who market food products, guaranteeing their safety even at this stage of the chain.

The rapid development of China’s paper industries is highlighted in the latest edition of the ‘Paper Contract with China Report’ from APP-China.

The emergence of high-growth paper companies in the developing countries of Asia, and particularly in China, is redefining the global pulp and paper market, following years of investment in new technology and environmental innovation.

The ‘Paper Contract with China Report’ for Q2 2011 looks at the rise of China’s industry in a global context – following its significant developments in recent years.

The growth in China’s paper industry has led several nations to protect their own paper manufacturers through the imposition of artificial levies and tariffs. In May this year, the European Union began to levy both anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on imports of Coated Fine Paper (CFP) from China. This was the first time the EU had imposed such policy on China’s products. In the same period, Brazil began to implement significantly more stringent import licensing requirements - directly targeted on 17 manufacturing industries including paper. Last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain types of coated paper manufactured in China.

In truth, the increasing number of trade conflicts is an indication that those countries traditionally strong in the paper industry have increasing concerns about the rapidly-developing paper industry in China.

“As could be expected from the way the worldwide pulp and paper industry has developed over the past few years, the real movers and shakers were the Asians.” This was the conclusion from RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, in an article entitled “The PPI Top 100 – Asian Tiger Pounces.” China’s output of paper and cardboard products in 2009 increased by 54.4 million tons compared with 2001, indicating a growth rate of 170%. Fuelling the fast growth rate is very high market demand in China: the consumption of paper and cardboard in China reached over 85 million tons in 2009, an increase of almost 50 million tons compared with 2001.

In the fast-growing Asian paper industry, China has been the most prominent nation. In 2009, Chinese manufacturers had nine positions in the Pulp and Paper Industry (PPI) Top 100. Beyond exports, China’s consumption of paper and cardboard products has risen from less than 10% of the global total amount in 1993 to 25% today. Starting from 2009, when the output of paper and cardboard products in China exceeded 80 million tons, China has surpassed the US to become the world’s Number One paper manufacturing country, with world leading technologies particularly in producing newsprint, coated paper and tissue products.

Apart from the rapid improvements in both capacity and technology, China’s paper manufacturers have been widely acknowledged for their remarkable contribution to environmental protection. The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), a critical environmental index on emissions of the paper industry, dropped from 2.033 million tons down to 1.097 million tons, a decline of 46%.

“APP-China is proud to be part of the story,” said Sophy Huang, PR Director from APP-China. “We have invested very heavily in cutting-edge technologies to make our production as efficient as possible and minimise impact on the environment. By the end of 2010, APP-China had invested more than 5.5 billion RMB (USD 846 million) in environmental protection, substantially reducing our CO2 footprint and the amount of water used in the manufacturing process.”

“China’s paper industry has the world’s most stringent emission standards,” said Dr. Cao Zhenlei, President of the China National Pulp and Paper Research Institute, when commenting on the industry’s performance in energy-saving and emission reduction at the 16th International Symposium on Wood, Fiber and Pulping Chemistry held in Tianjin in June 2011. “Our standards are not only stricter than those of West Europe, but even exceed North America’s by 20 years.” The carbon dioxide discharged by China’s paper industry is equal to just a fraction of the amount emitted by chemical, ceramic, steel or cement industries in the market, according to Cao.

“The latest Paper Contract with China Report may surprise many international commentators,” said Sophy Huang. “There are a number of misconceptions about the China’s paper industry which the report corrects. Among those is the idea that we are ‘lagging behind’ on environmental protection. In fact, the opposite is the case. In both technology and the environment, Chinese companies are leading the world.”

The Paper Contract with China Report sees the next step for the Chinese industry to be a greater concentration of large-scale manufacturers, resulting in even greater international competitiveness.