Restructurings

Sappi's shutdown of the No. 9 paper machine and a biomass boiler -- and the resulting elimination of nearly 30% of the jobs at the Westbrook mill -- were a long time coming, union President Ron Rondeau said last Monday.

With the closure of the mill UPM will reduce a total of 240,000 tonnes of its newsprint paper capacity.

Veritiv Corp. reported it is launching a restructuring that will result in the reduction of its U.S. salaried workforce by approximately 15% across all business segments and corporate functions.

BillerudKorsnäs intends to implement a simplified organizational structure as of August 1, 2020. The new organization will be built along the business flow around three functional areas: Wood Supply, Operations and Commercial. In parallel, the resources for sustainability and innovation will be grouped in a common new function, Sustainability & Strategic Development.

Norske Skog will take a major step in its continued transformation towards a growing and high-margin business by converting two newsprint paper machines into renewable containerboard production. The conversions at Golbey and Bruck will introduce 765,000 tonnes of competitive containerboard capacity to meet the growing demand for renewable packaging.

UPM Jyväskylä plywood mill employs 167 people.

Cascades Inc. announces the closure of the Brown Containerboard Packaging facility located in Burlington, Ontario, as part of the Corporation's continuing optimization initiatives for its Containerboard Packaging business.

Graphic Packaging has notified the Louisiana Workforce Commission of 56 planned layoffs in West Monroe.

North Pacific Paper Co. in Longview has cut staff and curtailed production in response to a "significant, sudden change" in orders due to the coronavirus, company officials said.

The Rayonier Advanced Materials Inc. Board of Directors has elected De Lyle Bloomquist to serve as Chair of the Board. The Company previously announced the separation of the roles of Chair and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Arauco will close its medium density fiberboard (MDF) production facility in Bennettsville, South Carolina May 18.

LSC Communications, Inc. and most of its U.S. subsidiaries has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. LSC's subsidiaries in Mexico and Canada are not included in the court proceedings and will continue to operate in the normal course.

Quad/Graphics Inc. said it has temporarily furloughed employees throughout the company and suspended operations at a number of its plants.

Södra Skog is introducing short-time working at its harbour operations in Mönsterås. Due to a reduction in demand in the UK and the Republic of Ireland during the ongoing pandemic, Södra Wood has introduced short-time working at its production facility in Mönsterås and the harbour operations are affected as a consequence of this.

As the COVID-19 pandemic is quickly evolving, the companies will continue to monitor the circumstances of the virus and any recommendations or directives of government and health authorities and will advise shareholders as necessary of any further updates regarding the AGMs.

Sententia Capital Management, LLC and its affiliates announced that it has delivered a letter to the LSC Communications Board of Directors and stockholders.

Weeks after issuing an earnings that report that revealed the company lost $295 million last year, publication printer LSC Communications is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to reports, citing "people with knowledge of the plans."

The Rights Agreement is designed to ensure that all LSC stockholders receive fair and equal treatment in the event of any proposed takeover of the Company and to guard against tactics to gain control of LSC without paying all stockholders a premium for that control.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company announced that RRD has sent a letter to Chatham Asset Management, LLC in response to Chatham's February 28, 2020 letter to RRD's Board Chair and President and Chief Executive Officer.

Sententia says it has nominated six directors and are committed to working for the benefit of shareholders and the Company, not simply management and the LSC Board.

The liquidator of Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) told Delhi High Court on Tuesday that measures would be taken to revive the two paper mills in Assam and that the process would be started in the next few weeks.

The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG has appointed two new members to the company's Management Board. Stephan Sielaff will serve as the new Chief Technology Officer effective March 1, 2020, succeeding Heiko Arnold, who left the Lenzing Group in November 2019.

Trivselhus President, Mikael Olsson, has informed the Board of Directors that he is to relinquish his position for health reasons.

Arauco announced that it will be closing its particleboard line in Moncure, N.C., as of April 2020.

Arauco North America said the closure results from an "economic imbalance" in the U.S. market for medium density fiberboard. The company said it will shift Eugene production work to its other U.S. facilities.