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The PM40 closed Friday, 31 January 2020, at 3043.

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 31 January 2020 down 14.1% from the 1 February 2019 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Louisiana Pacific and PCA.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

Matters that drastically affect the economy often come suddenly and from seemingly out of nowhere. This has been the track record in the modern era for nearly 100 years. The Chinese Coronavirus may just be one such event once again.

Valmet introduces a full range of new, data-driven Industrial Internet solutions to pulp, board, paper, tissue and energy producers.

Valmet will supply a Defibrator™ system to Çamsan Entegre Ağaç Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş in Turkey. The start-up of the system is planned for the middle of 2020.

Valmet will deliver key process islands for Lenzing's and Duratex's joint venture named LD Celulose S.A.

Valmet launches a completely redesigned Valmet Microwave Consistency Measurement - Valmet MCA (patent pending) for pulp and paper makers.

The main target of the rebuild is to increase the customer's production capacity.

Boise Paper, a division of Packaging Corporation of America (PCA), has announced their sponsorship of Reach Out and Read, a U.S. non-profit entering its fourth decade promoting childhood literacy.

Adding to this recognition is the fact that Cascades is the only Containers and Packaging company on the list and is one of 12 Canadian businesses.

Cascades, a leader in eco-friendly recovery, hygiene and packaging solutions, is delighted to receive a DUX Grand Prix Award for its latest food packaging innovation: a 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard tray.

Cotton is about to get its biggest new competitor since polyester emerged some decades ago. That's the hope of pulp producers looking to upend the textile industry with a green, price-competitive fiber.

International Paper was once again named by FORTUNE magazine as one of the "Worlds Most Admired Companies."

Smurfit Kappa has continued to demonstrate its leadership in sustainable and innovative packaging solutions by winning eight 2020 WorldStar Awards.

Sonoco has been selected to FORTUNE magazine's World's Most Admired Companies list for 2020. For the third year in a row, the Company also was listed first in the Packaging/Container industry.

It is the fifth-consecutive year WestRock has been named to the prestigious list.

Domtar Corp. has warned of an expected operating loss for the fourth quarter and sales that are below analyst expectations.

While demand for the glossy coated paper that has long been the Duluth mill's bread and butter continues to dwindle, Verso is eyeing a new market and a new staple product -- packaging.

The IFRS fair valuations of Stora Enso's forest have increased significantly since the publication of the Group's third quarter results in October.

As a result, International Paper's ownership interest in the partnership will decrease to 18.3% from 21.6%.

Kotkamills, a manufacturer of fully recyclable barrier boards, has signed a significant collaboration agreement with Lavazza Professional.

A financial analyst says the long-struggling Canadian newsprint industry has even tougher times ahead given recent events including a potential anti-dumping investigation in India.

In an encouraging move with the potential to create transformative market change, China recently amended its Forest Law to include a nationwide ban on buying, transporting, and/or processing illegally sourced timber, as well as an added focus on traceability.

An ex-accounting manager who worked at Weyerhaeuser's Springfield office has pleaded guilty to mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and tax evasion after stealing more than $4.5 million from the timber company by contracting with bogus vendors, including one in her mother's name.

A former employee of Appvion faces charges he stole close to $200,000 in industrial and computer equipment from the Roaring Spring paper mill.

Georgia-Pacific announced that it will make an investment of more than $145 million at its Darlington, South Carolina, Dixie plant that will expand plate and bowl making operations.

Sofidel Group anticipates an early June grand opening for its $360 million facility in Inola, Oklahoma a spokesman for the company said.

The proposed merger, which was announced in May 2019, had been set to expire on Feb. 1.

CSS Industries, Inc., a leading consumer products company serving the craft, gift and seasonal markets, today announces that it has entered into a merger agreement under which IG Design Group plc, through a subsidiary, will acquire CSS for $9.40 per share in an all cash transaction valued at approximately $88 million.

Gould Paper Corporation (OVOL USA) has acquired McGrann Paper.

Metsä Group acquires nature sites that are used to compensate for the conservation areas required of forest owners by the FSC® forest certification.

Weyerhaeuser is selling its 630,000 acres in Montana to Georgia-based Southern Pine Plantations for $145 million.

Quad/Graphics Inc. plans to sell its Omaha packaging plant for $40 million to Atlanta-based Graphic Packaging International while also continuing investments in other packaging operations.

CatchMark Timber Trust, Inc. announced that Brian M. Davis, previously President and CFO, will succeed Jerry Barag as the company's next CEO and join the company's Board of Directors, effective immediately.

After just over seven years as President and CEO, Lars Idermark has informed the Board that he will be leaving Södra. The Board will now initiate a recruitment process for a new President and CEO.

Arsen S. Kitch will lead paper and tissue manufacturer Clearwater Paper Corp. beginning April 1.

Some 9,000 workers at Finnish paper mills will start a three-week strike on Monday, Jan. 27 after wage talks broke down, their labor union said in a statement, the latest in a series of labor conflicts to hit Finland.

McKinley Paper Company is expected to be running at full capacity at the former Nippon Paper Industries USA plant in March, three years after operations ceased at the 100-year-old Ediz Hook mill.

"Pixelle provides innovative solutions to our customers," said Tim Hess, CEO, Pixelle Specialty Solutions, "and this new state-of-the-art website is our latest solution to enhance our customers' experience with us as their supplier and partner."

Verso Corporation and Lapetus Capital II LLC (together with its affiliates, including Atlas Holdings LLC, "Atlas") and Blue Wolf Capital Advisors IV, LLC ("Blue Wolf") and their respective affiliates, announced that they have reached an agreement to settle the pending proxy contest with respect to the Company's 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the "Annual Meeting") and certain other matters.

Arup Basu has been the Managing Director for Huhtamaki's Flexible Packaging business in India since 2017.

Freight Waves, in a recent article, stated that LTL carrier rates will continue to increase in 2020.

Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and Louisiana-Pacific Building Solutions (LP) announced the signing of a new, 10-year agreement that will positively impact more than 6.2 million acres of Manitoba's boreal forest, an area larger than the state of Vermont and about half the size of Nova Scotia.

Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, has once again achieved a place on CDP's prestigious 'A List' for climate change.

Northern Pulp is asking for a judicial review of the Nova Scotia environment minister's decision to require an environmental assessment report for the company's proposed effluent facility.

Excess heat from the industrial processes at Stora Enso's Maxau paper mill in Germany, will be used to provide renewable, biomass-based district heating for the city of Karlsruhe.

UPM is among the first global forest industry companies making this commitment.

The biorefinery will produce a range of 100% wood-based biochemicals which enable a switch from fossil raw materials to sustainable alternatives in various consumer-driven end-uses.

A corrugated box manufacturing plant officially opened Friday, Jan. 24 in Boone County.

One firefighter was taken to the hospital.

Georgia-Pacific announced last June that it would shut down part of their facility, affecting nearly 600 workers.

Kimberly-Clark Corporation announced that Russ Torres has been named President, Kimberly-Clark Professional, effective March 9, 2020.

Louisiana Pacific Corp. announced plans to cut jobs at the company's plant in Roaring River Thursday in connection with a shift in production there.

Earlier, in September 2019, UPM announced the intention to sell its Chapelle newsprint mill in Grand-Couronne, France.

Earlier, in September 2019, UPM announced the intention to sell its Chapelle newsprint mill in Grand-Couronne, France.