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The PM40 closed Friday, 30 September 2022, at 4394.

Get the latest PM40 updates by listening to the weekly Nips show and the PM40 Daily Show on Pulp & Paper Radio International.

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

The PM40 closed 30 September 2022 down 6.1% from the 1 October 2021 level.

Reported insider trading since the last issue of PaperMoney.

I am just back from the Iberian Peninsula where I was able to meet with a number of pulp and paper producers from Portugal to Finland. The energy situation in Europe is dire, a condition you have no doubt read about. One of the "solutions" being discussed is to slow down the machines. Personally, I think that is a bad idea. Slowing paper machines gets everyone into a set of bad habits. Let me put some finesse on this.

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BID Group announces a new partnership with ArbaBlox Inc. to build its first state-of-the-art turnkey composite pallet block plant in Winona, Mississippi.

In August, the Chinese paper manufacturer Shanying Suzhou Paper commissioned Voith to supply two XcelLine paper machines with comprehensive digitalization and automation solutions as well as services and spare parts packages for its new site in Zhongying, Anhui Province, in eastern China.

Valmet will supply a coated board making line with automation and Industrial Internet solutions as well as spare parts and consumables packages to one of its customers in the Asia-Pacific region. The board making line with high productivity will produce folding coated board grades of premium quality.

Valmet will supply the Cheng Loong Binh Duong Paper Company with key process technology for its new containerboard machine 23 (BM 23) at the company's Ben Cat mill in Binh Duong Province in Vietnam. Valmet's delivery includes approach flow systems, headboxes, a press section, a sizer, process air systems, a winder, automation systems and Industrial Internet solutions.

Moelven is investing in five continuous kilns and the Valmatics 4.0 control system to its three sawmills in Scandinavia. It's the most extensive single order the Moelven Group has ever placed with Valutec.

The recyclable and fiber-based wood foam Fibrease by Stora Enso can replace e.g. polymer-based foams in packaging solutions.

WestRock Company, a leading provider of sustainable paper and packaging solutions, has acquired an HP PageWide T1190 Press to complement and expand its portfolio of unmatched corrugated printing capabilities, increase value and enable customers to win in the marketplace.

Mohawk's Sustainable Collection provides a powerful opportunity to add substance to sustainable storytelling. From hemp stalks to recycled cotton fiber, to the highest levels of PCW fiber and environmental certifications, these papers' origin story is evident in every sheet.

A new report by fashion retail authority Drapers, in partnership with Smurfit Kappa, has revealed that sustainable packaging is still an important factor in consumers' purchasing decisions.

Sun Chemical has launched SUNFOODSTM Natural Colorants, a product line available in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Africa that can match a wide array of industry standard and custom colors that can be applied to a variety of food and beverage products.

Glatfelter Corporation, a leading global supplier of engineered materials, today announced that the Board of Directors has suspended the Company's quarterly cash dividend as part of its focused efforts to optimize the operational and financial results of the business.

The Lenzing Group, the world's leading supplier of wood-based specialty fibers for the textile and nonwovens industries, suspended its guidance for the development of earnings in the 2022 financial year in view of the drastic deterioration of the market environment in the current quarter. The further course of the 2022 financial year can only be estimated to a limited extent due to the extremely low visibility on the demand side and the high volatility of energy and raw material costs.

Mercer International Inc. has successfully entered into a new Euro 300 million revolving credit facility for its German subsidiaries with a syndicate of European banks (the "New Facility"). The New Facility has a five year term, is unsecured and accrues interest at a rate of Euribor plus a stipulated margin.

Sonoco ThermoSafe, a unit of Sonoco and one of the largest global providers of temperature assurance packaging, and United Cargo are pleased to announce a global lease agreement for the new Pegasus ULD® temperature-controlled bulk shipping container. The agreement enables pharmaceutical freight forwarders access to Pegasus ULD® containers directly from United Cargo.

In the complaint, filed with the proposed settlement, the United States and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) allege nine Clean Air Act violations that stem, in part, from a fatal explosion and accidental release at the DeRidder mill on Feb. 8, 2017.

Administrators have now been appointed at the Arjowiggins Group mills at Stoneywood, as well as Chartham, Kent, with 368 of the group's 463 UK-based employees made redundant immediately.

The fatal scaffolding collapse in 2021 at the Domtar facility in Windsor, Que., about 120 kilometres east of Montreal, could have been prevented, according to a report by the province's workplace safety board.

The carve-out transaction from Sappi's European business includes sites in Kirkniemi (Finland), Maastricht (The Netherlands), and Stockstadt (Germany), with over 1,400 full-time employees combined.

Resolute Forest Products Inc. will hold a virtual special meeting of stockholders on Monday, October 31, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern) for the following purposes...

Smurfit Kappa has signed an agreement to acquire PaperBox, a packaging plant located in Saquarema, 70 kms east of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The transaction, which is subject to the approval of regulatory bodies, is expected to close at the end of October.

Sonoco, a diversified global packaging leader, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire S.P. Holding, Skjern A/S ("Skjern"), a privately owned manufacturer of paper based in Skjern, Denmark.

Dunn Paper will close its Port Huron location Nov. 18.

The mill has endured significant business and financial challenges that were compounded by the April 2020 rupture of one of its pulp digesters and catastrophic damage impacting the continued operability of the entire pulp mill.

Roseburg announces automation and modernization at Pembroke MDF Moulding. The two-line moulding operation is in the midst of a significant modernization project.

Tolko's High Prairie team is continuing to work hard on the clean-up effort following the serious press fire that occurred at the mill on May 20, 2022. The damage to the press and press building was significant, and much of the equipment was a total loss.

The site has been producing consumer packaging and belongs to division Packaging Solutions. The existing operations are moving to Wujin and Dongguan sites. The last day of operations at Jiashan site will be October 21, 2022.

Stora Enso announced that it has developed a recyclable and fiber-based wood foam called Fibrease as a replacement for polymer based foams in packaging.

As part of our larger sustainability strategy, DS Smith paper mills in Dueñas, Spain, Kemsley, UK, and Belišće, Croatia, recently signed orders for new RunEco vacuum systems on their paper machines from our supplier Runtech Systems

Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP has been named one of the EPA's SmartWay® High Performers of 2022. This recognition was based on the company's initiative to undertake the task of shipping consumer goods while keeping environmental stewardship in mind.

State of Michigan environmental investigators have issued Graphic Packaging International multiple violations after an unannounced inspection in July, including one violation for releasing a chemical at a rate that exceeds the permitted emission limit.

Ingevity Corporation announced that it has received the gold rating for sustainability by EcoVadis, an independent organization that provides evidence-based sustainability assessments for companies within global supply chains, placing Ingevity in the top 3% of respondents in the specialty chemicals sector and affirming the company's commitment to its purpose to purify, protect and enhance the world.

Lenzing Group, a world-leading provider of sustainably produced specialty fibers, has been awarded platinum status in the CSR rating from EcoVadis. This comprehensive assessment covers the four key practices of corporate social responsibility: the environment, fair working conditions and human rights, ethics and sustainable procurement.

PotlatchDeltic Corporation issued its inaugural Carbon and Climate Report. The report quantifies the carbon removals, storage, and greenhouse gas emissions associated with our operations in 2021. Overall, PotlatchDeltic is significantly carbon negative as 2021 net carbon removals and storage exceed our scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

P&G continues to make progress on our commitment to keep forests as forests for generations to come, as communicated in our recently issued Forestry Practices Report 2022.

Stora Enso has started a feasibility study to assess the potential to further reduce fossil CO2 emissions at the Packaging Materials division's Imatra site in Finland. The study focuses on the possibility to significantly reduce the use of fossil fuels at site. This would be achieved through adding a new biomass boiler and improving recovery boiler energy efficiency. Replacing fossil-based fuels with bio-based fuels would improve the environmental performance of the site.

Suzano, the world's largest hardwood producer, has underlined its commitment to the Chinese market and its customers, and the pursuit of environmental solutions based on the bioeconomy at Shanghai Pulp Week 2022.

UPM has set a target to increase the amount of deadwood in its commercial forests from the current level of about five cubic metres per hectare to ten cubic metres per hectare. In UPM's protected areas and commercial forests where a specific nature management target has been set, the deadwood target is 20 cubic metres per hectare. The new targets are part of UPM Forest Action, the UPM Forest Responsibility programme.

Cariboo Pulp and Paper is jointly owned between West Fraser and Mercer International.

Firefighters were on scene for around five hours before the blaze was under control. There was some damage to the field and a nearby fence. However, no one was hurt.

Michelle Ward, a spokesperson for Canfor, says, based on ongoing discussions with the company's transportation partners, the supply chain backlog is not expected to significantly improve before the end of the year.

Cascades announces the temporary shutdown of one of its two tissue paper machines at its St. Helens, Oregon facility. The machine has an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of tissue made from virgin fibre, and supplies the Company's converting plants, primarily the Scappoose, Oregon facility. Production of the second machine, located in a separate building, is not impacted.

Metsä Tissue's, part of Metsä Group, renewed tissue paper machine at the Mänttä mill has moved from the trial run phase to continuous production. The renewed paper machine will be used to produce fresh fibre-based tissue paper products especially for the Finnish market. The upgrade will increase the production capacity of the tissue paper machine by 15 per cent, as well as improve product quality and energy and production efficiency.

A Sofidel employee was flown to a Columbus area hospital after getting his hand caught in a machine on Sept. 21.

More than 1,100 employees from 14 different locations in Washington and Oregon have been on strike since Sept. 13.