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The PM40 closed Friday, 17 February 2023, at 5356.

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 PCA and Glatfelter.

The PM40 closed 17 February 2023 up 16.4% from the 18 February 2022 level.

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, more than 150 papermaking innovators and legends have been enshrined. This month, we profile the late Louis-Nicolas Robert, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.

Stora Enso, a leading global provider of renewable solutions, has contracted ABB to upgrade two of their mills in Sweden to ABB Ability Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for pulp and paper to manage and streamline end-to-end production and improve overall mill efficiency.

International technology group ANDRITZ and KCF Technologies, a leading provider of machine health solutions, announced their global collaboration.

The systems will be installed in 2023.

Solenis has completed the acquisition of the stock of the Grand Invest Group on February 6, 2023. As part of the acquisition, Solenis will acquire all Grand Invest Group operating assets, including key strategic production and warehousing facilities.

ANDRITZ will deliver a FibreFlow Drum pulper with a maximum feed capacity of 1,400 t/d, various fiber cleaning equipment, and a spray water treatment system for the production of various board grades.

Start-up is scheduled for early 2025.

Amcor, a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, has won in four categories in the 2023 WorldStar Global Packaging Awards, organized by the World Packaging Organisation.

Cruz Foam, a circular materials company, announced the launch of a revolutionary new family of earth-friendly protective packaging products highlighting highly performant solutions to meet specific customer needs for shipping fragile and temperature-sensitive goods for consumers and businesses. Cruz Foam's patented compostable foam outperforms equivalent plastic-based products and exceeds current industry standards for sustainability.

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, a leading provider of sustainable fiber-based consumer packaging solutions, has been named to Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies for 2023. Furthermore, Graphic Packaging was ranked number one in its industry sector of Packaging and Containers, reinforcing its continued dedication to providing essential and innovative packaging solutions for consumer brands worldwide.

Greif is pleased to announce the rebrand of its product circularity program, now known as Life Cycle Services by Greif. Backed by one of the most comprehensive sustainability programs in industrial packaging, Greif has a proven history of helping customers meet and exceed their sustainability goals.

OnceMore® from Södra is the world's first large-scale process for recycling blended fabrics and is now breaking new ground being implemented in TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™. The Swedish fashion house Filippa K will be the first brand to premiere the fibre in its Spring/Summer 2024 collection, debuting this autumn.

To help major food brands achieve important sustainability goals, Pactiv Evergreen, a leading manufacturer of fresh food and beverage packaging in North America, is teaming up with AmSty, the leading manufacturer of polystyrene in North America and a pioneer in circular recycling of polystyrene. Pactiv Evergreen will soon offer customers innovative foam polystyrene packaging products with AmSty's post-consumer recycled content derived from advanced recycling technologies.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD), a leading global provider of marketing, packaging, print, and supply chain solutions, today announced several award wins in recognition of its sustainable business practices and human resource (HR) excellence related to its investments in the growth and development of employees.

The global airline industry is looking at using SAF -- which is produced from feedstock such as agricultural waste and used cooking oil -- to meet its net zero emissions target by 2050. Japan plans to be carbon-neutral by the same year.

Packaging industry veteran Robert Egan, in partnership with Atlas Holdings, a $16 billion diversified holding company with substantial interests in the global paper and packaging industry, today announced the launch of Packaging Exchange -- a packaging solutions company founded with the mission to re-imagine the packaging supply chain by bringing together our market expertise, proprietary Exchange iO software, and extensive network of industry partnerships.

Rottneros takes the next step for the agreed joint venture project in Packaging in Poland by formally founding the 50/50-owned company together with Arctic Paper. The aim of the company is to build and run the factory to produce moulded fibre trays on a large industrial scale. The project is on schedule and the factory is expected to begin operations at the end of 2023.

Stora Enso and Valmet have started collaborating on next-generation lignin product and process development to drive Stora Enso's lignin-based businesses and further improve the performance of the Valmet LignoBoost technology. The objective of the partnership is to further develop the quality and customer value of lignin, increase the supply by optimised process machinery and asset design, and to accelerate the speed of meeting the growing lignin demand of the future.

Effective March 1, Sylvamo will add Karl Meyers and Mark Wilde, expanding the company's board to 11 directors.

The Lenzing Group, the world's leading supplier of specialty fibers, and Sweden's leading pulp producer Södra have reached the next major milestone in their strategic partnership to promote circularity in fashion.

One worker was killed Aug. 16, 2022 at the Ahlstrom paper mill, also known as the Thilmany mill.

On Monday, Feb. 13, the legal team representing residents filed a lawsuit saying harmful chemicals beneath the mill are being dumped in the Catawba river.

Cascades, a leader in the recovery and manufacturing of green packaging and hygiene products, is pleased to announce that it has purchased a new printing press at its Piscataway, New Jersey, corrugated packaging converting facility.

The paperboard mill in Waco, Texas will follow the opening early last year of a similar plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., which was the first new coated-recycled paperboard line to be built in the U.S. in decades. Construction is expected to begin later this quarter and start-up is slated for late 2025.

Kruger Packaging announced investments of over $30 million to modernize its Place Turcot Containerboard Mill in Montréal. With this important transformation to be completed in 2025, the Place Turcot facility will be the first in North America to manufacture 100% recycled saturating kraft board, a product that is used to make high-pressure laminates for furniture, countertops and decorative paneling.

The mill produces high quality tissue products and the current capacity will be doubled to approximately 145,000 t/a.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) will invest $400 million and bring at least 100 new jobs to rural Utah over the next 20 years.

Iconex, the world's leading provider of highly differentiated label solutions and low-cost paper receipts, announced the acquisition of Graphic Controls Transactional Media's Point-of-Sale Rolls division. Graphic Controls, based in Buffalo, N.Y., is a subsidiary of Nissha Co. Ltd.

Mill Rock Packaging Partners LLC ("Mill Rock Packaging") announced that it has acquired Keystone Paper & Box Company ("Keystone"), a leading specialty packaging company that manufactures custom folding cartons for consumer and healthcare end markets.

Menasha Corporation announced that James M. Kotek will retire from his position as President and Chief Executive Officer in March. The Menasha Corporation Board of Directors has appointed Christopher D. Drees to succeed Kotek effective March 13, 2023. Drees will also join the Menasha Corporation Board on that date.

UFP Industries, Inc. announced that CEO Matthew J. Missad also has been named chairman of the board. The move, approved by the board of directors at their February 2, 2023, meeting and effective immediately, is part of a comprehensive succession plan that calls for both change and continuity: Board Chairman William G. Currie will remain as a director through the end of his term. He then will step down after 54 years with the company. Missad will remain with the Company at least through 2027, as other elements of the succession plan are put in place.

MM Board & Paper will rebuild the board machines in Frohnleiten, Austria; Neuss, Germany; and Kolicevo, Slovenia, during February-September 2023.

Nippon Paper aims to start operating the new plant in December 2024. This investment is expected to increase sales revenue approx. Euro 50 million and provide approx. 60 jobs at full operation.

Magnus Örnberg has been recruited as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Södra. He has extensive experience in all areas of finance and most recently served as CFO of SAS.

With the withdrawal from the graphic paper business, Opal will focus on the packaging business, which is expected to grow in the future, and will strengthen its integrated packaging supply strategy in Oceania by transitioning the Maryvale Mill into a sustainable packaging paper mill.

The partnership is part of APRIL's recently launched community conservation programme, which has received support from local and provincial Government authorities in Riau, and will contribute to the Indonesian Government's climate and biodiversity protection goals.

Most pizza lovers stocking up for football's championship game know their leftover boxes can be recycled but an alarming 40% say they don't always do so.

With Termax, Lecta boasts an extensive range of thermal papers that is constantly evolving to meet POS, ticket and label application needs.

Paper Excellence Canada announced a $100,000 gift to the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) to boost efforts to conserve and restore Pacific salmon populations across B.C. The gift will be distributed through grants in communities where Paper Excellence operates to help advance community-driven stewardship initiatives at a local level.

The Province's agreements with Port Hawkesbury Paper have been updated to support sustainable ecological forestry practices and management of public lands.

Sappi's Thrive25 sustainability goal seeks to reduce total specific energy use by 1% annually for five years.

Sofidel has received an environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) Risk Rating of 13.6 from Morningstar Sustainalytics.

Stora Enso also reports against the SASB's Sustainability Accounting Standards for Forest Management and Containers & Packaging.

The company seeks to confront the climate emergency through these near-term science-based emissions goals to secure the future of business, the planet, and society.

A train derailment at the Georgia-Pacific Mill in Toledo, Ore. spilled about 2,000 gallons of diesel Friday, Feb. 10, and state officials said some of it entered a slough that feeds into the Yaquina River.

The Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Authority (OHSWA) recently honored the Little Falls, NY, operations of Twin Rivers Paper with their annual Recycling Champion Award for 2022. OHSWA recognizes one certified RecycleOne Business each year that has taken the initiative to reduce its solid waste stream through reduction, recycling and proper disposal.

Appvion closed the mill in early 2021.

A leaked, undated internal memo from Evergreen Packaging's Canton General Manager John McCarthy says that the mill will idle one of its paper-making machines, citing reduced demand for its particular product.

Officials say a machine overheated, causing sheet rock to catch fire.

Mercer International Inc. announces that the operator of the Cariboo Pulp and Paper mill, in which Mercer has a joint venture interest, has announced a planned curtailment of operation beginning in mid-April for a month and then for another month in the third quarter.

There is no word on what caused the fire or the extent of the damage.

The 22-year-old lineman was pulled into the paper-mill machine by his right arm while working at his station, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Nobody was hurt in the fire, which is expected to keep the Evergreen mill, also known as the Tamarack Mill, closed for up to two weeks.

A Skowhegan man working for a contractor died suddenly last week at the Sappi paper mill, according to officials.