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The PM40 closed Friday, 29 November 2019, at 3285.

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 29 November 2019 down 6.7% from the 30 November 2018 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Stora Enso and Universal Forest Products.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

There is a packaging and paper industry analyst whom I have known for probably 25 years or so and whose opinions I read regularly. Currently he is in (awe) (disbelief) that margins in the containerboard sector are staying so high while operating rates have reached the sub-90% levels. I think the margin support is great news.

Andritz Brasil Ltda. successfully completed concreting work for the base of the Line 5 debarking drum, which is part of the wood preparation equipment (Andritz scope) being supplied in partnership with Afonso França.

Kadant Black Clawson LLC, a subsidiary of Kadant Inc. (NYSE: KAI), announced it received an order from Papel San Francisco to supply a complete stock preparation and deinking line for its new tissue production line at its Mexicali, Mexico facility.

Konecranes has been chosen to supply nine cranes, including four automated roll storage cranes, for the first new paper mill built in Wisconsin in over 30 years.

Valmet and Metsä Board have signed an agreement for the supply of key technology for the planned renewal of the Husum pulp mill in Sweden.

The pulp production upgrades will happen in stages.

The start-up of the system is planned for the middle of 2020.

Valmet will supply an energy management solution to optimize production and energy consumption at Kemira Chemicals' bleaching chemical plants in Äetsä and Joutseno in Finland.

Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. said it will replace plastic straws with paper ones at all of its 1,500 outlets across the nation by mid-March 2020.

Canfor Corporation announced it will be curtailing operations at all British Columbia sawmills at the end of December.

IT Tech Packaging, Inc. announced the commercial launch of a new tissue paper production line (the "PM9 Production Line"), following the success of its trial production, the receipt of its disposed wastewater discharge permits and construction completion acceptance from Chinese environmental authorities.

Pinnacle Renewable Holdings entered into a limited partnership agreement with Tolko Industries Ltd. to build a new industrial wood pellet production facility in High Level, Alberta, Canada.

Northern Pulp and an associated company owe the province more than $85 million.

Two water districts in Long Island, New York have sued 3M Co, E.I. DuPont De Nemours and Co. and the Chemours Co, accusing the chemical makers of contaminating their drinking water supplies with toxic substances.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has signed a non-binding letter of intent with the majority shareholders of Hebei Minglian New Materials Technology Co., Ltd. to acquire the company, comprising a state-of-the-art greenfield decor paper plant in the city of Xingtai, Hebei Province, China.

Ahlstrom-Munksjö has agreed to sell its glass fiber reinforcement business in Mikkeli, Finland, to Vitrulan Composites Oy, a fully owned subsidiary of Vitrulan Group and part of the family-owned industrial holding ADCURAM Group.

Avery Dennison Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire Smartrac's Transponder (RFID Inlay) Division, for the purchase price of €225 million, subject to certain closing and post-closing adjustments.

TC Transcontinental announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its paper and woven polypropylene packaging operations to Hood Packaging Corporation for a price of US$180 million (about C$239 million) subject to working capital adjustments.

The Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC (Molpus) has purchased approximately 18,433 acres of timberland in east central Alabama.

Sonoco announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Thermoform Engineered Quality, LLC, and Plastique Holdings, LTD, (together TEQ), a global manufacturer of thermoformed packaging serving healthcare, medical device and consumer markets, from ESCO Technologies, Inc. for approximately $187 million in cash.

TC Transcontinental announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to sell its paper and woven polypropylene packaging operations to Hood Packaging Corporation for a price of US$180 million (about C$239 million) subject to working capital adjustments.

The Lenzing Group officially launched construction work in Prachinburi, Thailand right on schedule to build the world's largest lyocell production plant.

LSC Communications, Inc. announced that it received notification from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on November 20, 2019, that the Company is no longer in compliance with NYSE continued listing criteria, which require listed companies to maintain an average closing share price of at least $1.00 over a consecutive 30 trading-day period.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration

Asia's pulp and paper giants - which supply materials for stationery, tissues and toilet roll - are being urged by environmentalists to follow the palm oil industry in stepping up collaboration to tackle forest loss and fires in Indonesia.

Graphic Packaging Holding Company announced the publication of its 2018 Sustainability and Social Responsibility Update Report.

Overall Metsä Board is also in the top 1% of companies assessed by EcoVadis in the manufacture of corrugated paper and paperboard industry.

Roseburg Forest Products was fined $38,400 by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for violating air quality standards at its plant in Dillard back in March.

Sonae Arauco is now a member of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) International, taking another important step in its mission of creating a sustainable forest value chain.

Stora Enso, along with other members of CEPI, the European association representing the forest fiber and paper industry, are joining forces with companies across the value chain to drive the recycling of fiber-based packaging and collaboration in circular design and materials to enable positive change in circular economy.

Three companies being investigated by the National Environment Agency (NEA) over the 2015 haze crisis had large numbers of fire alerts on their pulpwood concessions this year, an analysis of fire alerts published on Monday (Nov 18) shows.

Finnish Forest Industries Federation said on Wednesday it would hold a 6-day lock-out from Dec. 12, closing half of the Nordic country's sawmills and plywood factories, aiming to put pressure on unions in halted pay negotiations.

McKinley Paper Co. is targeting mid-January for beginning production at its 99-year-old Ediz Hook mill with about 100 workers after nearly three years of industrial dormancy at the site and lost revenue for the city of Port Angeles.

Hsu, 55, succeeds Thomas J. Falk, who plans to retire from the company and the Board at the end of the year after serving as Chairman for the past 16 years.

Roseburg Forest Products is laying off about 30 employees from its Dillard plant because of a downturn in the North American plywood market.

UPM Raflatac has opened a new labelstock slitting and distribution terminal in Chelyabinsk, Russia.

A longtime Gorham Paper and Tissue employee has died from injuries he received in an accident at the paper mill four weeks ago.

Authorities have identified a worker who died in an accident at a woodyard adjacent to a Lowndes County paper mill.