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The PM40 closed Friday, 16 July 2021, at 4093.

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 16 July 2021 up 75.7% from the 17 July 2020 level.

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

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

Ladies and gentlemen, the first class of inductees to the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame in Appleton, Wisconsin was inducted more than two decades ago in 1995, and today, close to 150 papermaking innovators and legends have been enshrined. This month, we profile the late Chester Floyd Carlson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2011.

International technology Group Andritz has successfully installed a new Multi Motor Drive (MMD) and drive control system for paper machine 3 at Hamburger Containerboard Group's mill in Pitten, Austria, completing this demanding retrofit project within a very short time. The installation and start-up of the Andritz scope took less than two weeks.

International technology group ANDRITZ is supplying major energy-efficient and environmentally friendly pulp production technologies and key process equipment for Bracell's Project "STAR" in the city of Lençóis Paulista, São Paulo state, Brazil.

DuPont Co. and two spinoffs will pay at least $50 million to Delaware to help clean up toxic chemicals, the Delaware Department of Justice announced.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ("CD&R") announced an agreement under which its portfolio company, Solenis, will be acquired by Platinum Equity. The transaction, expected to close before the end of 2021, implies an enterprise value for Solenis of $5.25 billion. CD&R and Solenis management currently collectively own 51% of Solenis, and chemical company BASF holds the remaining 49%.

In June, one of Europe's leading producers of publication papers, Norske Skog, commissioned the technology group Voith to rebuild the PM 1 production line for the future production of recycled packaging paper. In addition to the extensive rebuild of the PM 1, Voith will supply a new BlueLine stock preparation system and efficiency-enhancing services. Located in the Vosges area, the plant will produce 550,000 tons of containerboard per year with a wire width of 9,300 mm. The focus is on lightweight packaging papers between 70 and 135 g/m2. Commissioning is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023.

Valmet will supply a semi-chemical pulp (SCP) line to Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd, Chongqing in China. The technology deliveries by Valmet will begin in 2022 and the start-up is planned for 2023.

Valmet will supply a boiler upgrade and a flue gas cleaning system to Stora Enso's Anjala-Ingerois sites in Finland. The goal of the investment is to reduce the emissions and to ensure flexible use of different fuel mixtures in heat production, as well as to achieve better boiler performance and higher boiler efficiency.

Valmet will supply a conversion from paper machine to fluff pulp drying machine at Daio Paper Corporation's Mishima mill in Japan. The delivery will include new machinery, rebuilds and automation in the pulp drying line and reel system in the existing paper machine PM15.

Valmet will supply the ninth tissue line delivery, including an extensive automation package, to Turkish tissue producer Hayat Kimya. The company has decided to invest in a new tissue machine at their new mill in Russia, with a target to meet the increasing demand for their high-quality tissue products. The new line will add 70,000 tons of tissue to their current production of facial, toilet and towel tissues. The start-up is planned for the end of 2022.

Newly developed technologies are constantly challenging the limits of what paper can do. With the introduction of two innovative product ranges, Ahlstrom-Munksjö continues to provide sustainable, fiber-based solutions for consumers.

PawPrint™ Pet Food Packaging Papers offer sustainable alternatives for flexible pet food packaging needs.

Essity will invest approximately EUR 11m (approximately SEK 110m) in its Hondouville mill in France, allowing to extract 98% of paper fibers contained in food and beverage cartons.

Huhtamaki, a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions, is launching Futuro, the first 100% plastic free egg carton for cooked colored eggs, across markets in Europe.

Give your challenging pressure-sensitive applications a strong base with Linerset, Lecta's new release liner. The Linerset paper range guarantees high performance for all your self-adhesive materials in labelling, graphic films, tapes and industrial applications.

Mondi, a global leader in packaging and paper, extends its Color Copy original flagship range with extra-long digital formats (with lengths up to 1200mm) to meet the growing demand for digitally printed applications and allows for a host of new print applications. The papers offer the highest possible quality in digital colour printing and provide customers the choice between different long-sheet applications, (personalised for each customer), both in large scale or single items.

To meet customer demand for sustainable direct thermal printing labels, Neenah announces the market launch of water-dispersible DISPERSA® DT (Direct Thermal), an innovative extension to its popular DISPERSA® portfolio. DISPERSA DT was developed as a sustainable solution for applications such as food rotation labels and reusable plastic container labels.

Sappi Europe announces a price increase for all its woodfree coated, uncoated and mechanical coated paper grades by no less than 10% across all European markets.

The forestry company says it is conducting a "modified Dutch auction" with a tender price range of $85 to $98 per share.

With the rise of e-commerce, many brands are experiencing leakages, costly returns and brand reputation damage when trying to force traditional brick-and-mortar liquid packaging formats through the rigors of the online fulfilment supply chain. Liquibox and WestRock, two leaders in sustainable packaging, present a Ships In Own Container (SIOC) bag-in-box solution for Amazon that delights consumers, reduces waste and ensures products arrive undamaged.

Norske Skog has expanded its partnership with Ocean GeoLoop to support development, testing and commercialisation of their highly promising Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilisation (CCS/CCU) technologies. Through this partnership, Norske Skog aims to pursue the opportunity to become CO2 net negative, and to explore economically viable models for utilisation of biogenic CO2.

A Brazilian judge has authorized pulp maker Paper Excellence to conclude the acquisition of Eldorado Brasil Celulose SA, the Brazilian company said in a securities filing.

The death of an employee at a Sussex sawmill has led to several recommendations to improve safety.

Attorneys for New-Indy Containerboard have asked a federal judge to dismiss the first of three lawsuits filed against the company following months of concerns about hydrogen sulfide emissions coming from the company's Catawba mill.

New York's two U.S. senators are calling for the owner of Cascades Containerboard's Niagara Falls manufacturing facility to reach agreement on a first labor contract, more than two years after workers there voted to join a union.

Mayr-Melnhof Packaging is investing around Euro 35 million in Neupack Polska and expanding the site with a focus on e-commerce and high-quality fine corrugated cardboard (microflute).

Sonoco provided a progress report on Project Horizon, its $115 million investment to transform its corrugated medium machine in Hartsville, S.C. to a state-of-the-art uncoated recycled paperboard operation with annual production capacity of 180,000 tons.

Atlas Holdings LLC, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission said the company is offering $20 per share for Verso's outstanding stock shares, buying out Verso entirely. The estimated value of the company is $866 million, according to Atlas Holdings.

DS Smith Plc. announced Friday the proposed sale of its De Hoop paper mill in the Netherlands to De Jong Packaging for 50 million euros or about 43 million pounds in cash.

Interfor Corporation has completed the previously announced transaction to acquire four sawmill operations from Georgia-Pacific, located in Bay Springs, Mississippi; Fayette, Alabama; DeQuincy, Louisiana and Philomath, Oregon.

Paper Excellence, a global diversified manufacturer of pulp and specialty, printing, writing, and packaging papers, announced that Paper Excellence and its subsidiaries ("Paper Excellence") have received a debt commitment letter from leading financial institutions for the commitment of an aggregate of $1.95 billion of financing.

Verso Corporation confirmed that it has received an unsolicited proposal from Atlas Holdings LLC regarding a potential transaction to acquire all outstanding shares of Class A common stock of Verso for $20.00 per share in cash.

Weyerhaeuser Company announced the completion of the sale of 145,000 acres of timberlands in the North Cascades region of Washington to Hampton Resources for $266 million.

After a period of time to ramp up production, the machine is expected to resume full operation in January 2022, allowing Domtar to add 185,000 tons of uncoated freesheet capacity to its manufacturing network.

Roseburg Forest Products will expand its operations in the southeastern United States with the construction of a high-capacity lumber mill in the town of Weldon, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper announced the project at a joint news conference with officials representing Roseburg, the state of North Carolina, Halifax County and the Town of Weldon.

Truvant, a global provider of high quality, scalable packaging and display solutions, recently opened a new facility in Indianapolis, Indiana. The latest expansion supports the growing Truvant company portfolio and increases its operational footprint to 15 facilities around the world.

International Paper has released its 2020 Global Citizenship Report. One of the world's leading producers of fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper, the company shares the final progress it made against its 2020 goals and outlines its approach to sustainability across its value chain.

Hygiene and health company Essity presents new and updated sustainability targets including a commitment to develop targets to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the latest. This includes raising the ambition level of Essity's current Science Based Targets. Other updated targets include sustainable innovations, occupational safety and responsible sourcing.

Lecta has published its new 2020 Environmental Report, highlighting actions and improvements carried out over the last two years. As a responsible company firmly committed to sustainability, minimizing our environmental footprint is one of our main objectives.

Mondi Group, a global leading global packaging and paper company and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), announce a three-year partnership to identify science-based viable responses to climate-related threats to forests and forest-based industries.

State environmental officials are accepting public comment until July 27 on an application that allows for a modest increase in pulp production at Verso's mill in Quinnesec, while allowing the maximum release of some air pollutants to rise by hundreds of tons per year, including a doubling of particulate matter.

Sappi Limited, a leading global provider of powerful everyday materials made from woodfibre-based renewable resources today announces its partnership with EcoVadis, a global leader in third-party evaluations of business sustainability performance. The two companies will collaborate to assess the sustainability performance of Sappi's suppliers through proactive ratings and evaluations using EcoVadis' methodology.

Sonoco, one of the largest diversified global packaging companies, announced new commitments to advance its environmental progress by setting ambitious goals to reduce its global greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement - to limit global temperatures to warming to well-below 2° C above pre-industrial levels. These emission reduction targets have recently been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

European Commission has on 14th of July, published an extensive set of proposals on climate and energy policies, framing the pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050. These proposals begin a lengthy process to agree on the details. UPM is committed to supporting EU's climate goals and has committed to the UN's Business Ambition for 1.5°C.

Tetra Pak has been recognized as one of the world's 50 Sustainability and Climate Leaders. The leading food processing and packaging solutions company has been acknowledged for its commitment to pioneer a sustainable future, with a documentary showcasing its fascinating journey.

Marco Hilty, (49), Ph.D. in Business Administration from University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), has been appointed President, Flexible Packaging and a member of the Global Executive Team at Huhtamaki as of September 1, 2021. He will report to President and CEO Charles Héaulmé and will be based in Ronsberg, Germany.

The unfortunate incidents of civil unrest, violence and criminal activity which are being widely reported through news channels are also impacting Sappi's South African operations.

Paperboard production at the Metsä Board Husum mill has resumed to normal production levels following a fire at the pulp mill's wood chip conveyor on 18 June.

PotlatchDeltic Corporation announced the appointment of Ashlee Cribb as Vice President, Wood Products effective July 28. Ashlee succeeds Tom Temple, who will be retiring later this year.

Over the next three years, the number of employees in the Södra Building Systems business segment will be doubled.

On Friday, July 2 at around 10:45 p.m., Friendly Fire Department was dispatched to the West Fraser lumber mill.