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The PM40 closed Friday, 27 September 2019, at 3046.

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 27 September 2019 down 27.6% from the 28 September 2018 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Ennis, Inc and 3M.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

This month in Nip Impressions we are going to be talking about quality in ways you may have never heard before. This will be a four-part series; the first column being dated "Week of 7 Oct 19" (actually issued on 3 Oct 19).

Valmet invests in a new pilot facility at its Fiber Technology Center in Sundsvall to strengthen the company's research and development capabilities related to bioenergy, biofuels and biochemicals. The new pilot facility will start up in October 2020.

Cascades was awarded the bronze Parity Certification by the Women in Governance organization. This certification recognizes Cascades' policies and programs aimed at encouraging women's professional growth and leadership.

Consumers and brands around the world are looking for more sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging, with easy recyclability being key. To meet these needs Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is introducing a new plastic-free eco-barrier paperboard that can be recycled in paper or paperboard waste streams according to local recycling schemes.

Sonoco announced the introduction of EnviroFlex™ PE recyclable polyethylene flexible packaging.

Stora Enso targets to increase the knowledge about sustainable construction and construction materials.

Metsä Group has scheduled several planned annual maintenance shutdowns at its pulp mills for the autumn of 2019.

Tolko Industries is cutting back its operations at a lumber mill in Kelowna, affecting 127 jobs as the company becomes the latest in the industry to announce a shutdown in British Columbia.

WestRock Company has provided an estimate of the impact of Hurricane Dorian on its fiscal fourth quarter financial results.

Dow, in partnership with UPM Biofuels, a producer of advanced biofuels, announces the commercialization of a plastics offering for the packaging industry made from a bio-based renewable feedstock.

SKF and Nordic Paper have signed a five-year fee- and performance-based contract. The agreement aims to improve Nordic Paper's productivity, health and safety and sustainability performance.

In a joint project for the Swiss cardboard and paper packaging solution provider PAWI Verpackungen AG, Sun Chemical and leading color software company Esko have successfully implemented seven-color expanded color gamut (ECG) printing at PAWI's facility in Winterthur.

The Company will invest $600 million in the project, and the machine is expected to have an annual capacity of approximately 500,000 tons.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö is currently exploring potential acquisitions, mergers, and joint-ventures with decor paper suppliers in China to speed up the execution of its strategy and capture the attractive value-creation opportunity in the decor business. In addition, the company is investigating the possibility to attract outside capital investment into the Decor business to further fund such objectives.

DuPont Safety & Construction (DuPont) announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the Ultrafiltration Membrane business from BASF including inge GmbH.

An order conditionally approving the sale of the Park Falls Flambeau River Papers mill was approved by Price County Judge Kevin Klein following a hearing Thursday afternoon.

Universal Forest Products has acquired Hartford, Wisconsin-based Pallet USA, LLC, the company announced. The acquisition expands Universal's industrial product capacity and services in the Midwest.

Voith has signed an agreement with Spectris plc to acquire BTG for a total gross cash consideration of Euro 319 million.

The Graphic Packaging mill in Battle Creek will close when that machine is complete two and a half years from now, a company official said.

Echoing remarks President Trump made during a previous visit to an Ohio manufacturing facility, an Australian billionaire said his investment here would not have been possible without Mr. Trump at the nation's helm.

Annica Bresky will become chief executive of Finnish pulp, paper and packaging board maker Stora Enso Oyj from December, taking over from Karl-Henrik Sundstrom.

Arkansas environmental officials have approved an air permit for a Chinese company's $1.8 billion paper mill that has been delayed by President Donald Trump's trade dispute with China.

Resolute Forest Products said it spent almost $35 million to maintain its Fort Frances mill in a "hot idle" state after it was shut down in 2014.

Closures and cutbacks adding up in 2019

CelluStraw™, a new fiber based solution for drinking paper straws, has been recently launched and is specially designed to address the food industry's emerging initiatives to phase out single-use plastic straws.

In addition to this important milestone, the company announced it will join the Science Based Targets, a global initiative that aims for companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions based on climate science, to limit the planet's increase in temperature.

Indonesia has not imposed serious enough penalties on pulpwood and palm oil firms that had large fires on their land from 2015 to 2018, and more fires on some of those farms also polluted the region's air quality this year, Greenpeace said on Tuesday.

Metsä Fibre has filed the environmental permit application concerning the Kemi bioproduct mill with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland.

Smurfit Kappa North America has become a Planet Partner sustaining sponsor of the Earthx2020 event in Dallas, Tex. that will bring together record numbers of concerned environmental citizens, educators, businesses, non-profit organizations, and thought leaders to celebrate global sustainability.

Columbia Pulp is in the final stages of launching the first straw pulp mill of its kind in North America.

The value of the investment was EUR 11 million.

In 2020, Stora Enso's estimated capital expenditure will be Euro 800-850 million, including Euro 200-230 million for the Oulu mill conversion and Euro 80-100 million for biological assets.