Stora Enso

To achieve $265 million in synergies, NewPage Corp. announced several moves related to its integration with the former Stora Enso North America. Four paper machines are being closed down permanently at facilities in Rumford, Maine; Niagara, Wis.; and Kimberly, Wis. Its Chillicothe, Ohio, converting mill will be shut down and its equipment relocated to a pair of plants. In all, 664 positions are being impacted. Despite the reductions, NewPage expects to increase its North American production between 3 and 8 percent in 2008 compared to the combined production realized in 2007, according to Mark Suwyn, chairman and CEO.

NewPage Corp. and Stora Enso Oyj have signed a definitive agreement under which the former’s parent company, NewPage Holding Corp., will acquire Stora Enso’s paper manufacturing operations in North America. Stora Enso is to receive approximately $1.5 billion in cash, a $200 million note and a 19.9% equity interest in the new company. Consolidating the operations is expected to generate approximately $265 million in annualized cost savings. “These cost savings, combined with our increased scale, will enable us to make further high-return investments in lower cost capacity, increase supply chain efficiencies and product availability and enhance environmental leadership,” said Rick Willett, President and COO

A digital print job is only as good as the paper used. To ensure you are getting the most out of your digital print jobs, IPG spoke with industry suppliers, who shared some important tips. Identifying Quality Paper Formation, which is the uniformity of fiber distribution, affects a paper’s strength, runnability, consistency in caliper and print performance. Hold a sheet of paper up to the light and observe the uniformity. Paper with poor formation will have an inconsistent, splotchy appearance. Copy paper should be lightweight with a degree of opacity so that it will move through the photocopier rollers easily, and neither curl nor become brittle

The United Steel Workers voted Wednesday to ratify a five-year labor pact with Stora Enso. The vote capped off 22 months of negotiations between the two sides. The deal includes a nine percent wage increase over the life of the contract and a $3,000 ratification bonus per member. The agreement covers USW locals representing roughly 1,400 members who work at Stora Enso’s Wisconsin plants in Biron, Stevens Point, Whiting and Wisconsin Rapids.

Stora Enso’s Productolith industry-standard coated printing paper is now Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. This pertains to all Productolith gloss, dull and matte sheet shipments. This label provides the company’s end users with the confidence that purchasing Productolith sheet products directly supports responsible forest management.

International Paper has agreed to sell its Brazilian coated papers business to Stora Enso Oyj for about $415 million. The business includes a coated paper mill and lumber mill in Arapoti, Parana State, Brazil, as well as about 124,000 acres of forestland in Parana. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2006. The move is part of International Paper’s previously announced transformation plan to focus on uncoated papers and industrial and consumer packaging globally. Including this deal, expected proceeds from transformation-related divestitures announced to date are approximately $9.7 billion.

YOUR CUSTOMERS are concerned about the environment. Many of them, in fact, would be happy to pay extra to read publications printed on recycled paper. According to a recent survey by the Green Press Initiative, Book Business magazine and Co-Op America, 80 percent of book/magazine purchasers said they would be willing to pay more for reading material printed on recycled stock. Paper manufacturers have been striving to address their customers’ environmental concerns by producing more papers with recycled content, and using pulp from sustainable, responsibly managed forests. They are also showing their environmental concern in other ways: by using wind-generated electricity for manufacturing