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The PM40 closed Friday, 17 July 2020, at 2941.

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 17 July 2020 down 8.5% from the 19 July 2019 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Amcor and UPM Kymmene.

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 140 papermaking innovators and legends have been enshrined. This month, we profile Curt G. Joa, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

Alucha and AkzoNobel are collaborating on technology that turns paper sludge into resources for making paint.

Effective July 14, 2020, Solenis LLC ("Solenis") completed the acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of Poliquímicos, S.A. de C.V. ("Poliquímicos").

German containerboard manufacturer Aviretta selected Toscotec to rebuild the post dryer section of its PM4 at Ettringen mill, Bavaria. PM4 produces test liner and fluting from 60 to 130 g/m². Start-up is scheduled for the 4Q 2020.

Valmet will supply a new-generation machine vision system to ITC in India. The new Valmet IQ Web Inspection System (WIS) will be installed on ITC's packaging board machine - BM7, replacing the existing WIS system. The commissioning is scheduled during the 3Q and 4Q 2020.

Valmet will supply pulp production upgrade technology to PT. Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper (PT TEL) in Indonesia.

Valmet has received an order to supply wash press technology to Phoenix Pulp & Paper Public Company Limited's (PPPC) hardwood bleached pulp plant at the Nam Pong mill, located in Khon Kaen province in Thailand.

Valmet has become aware of Alfa Laval's announcement on public cash tender offer for all shares in Neles. Valmet completed 14.88 percent share acquisition of Neles' shares from Solidium Oy on July 1, 2020.

Clearwater Paper Corporation has introduced ReMagine™, a folding carton paperboard brand with up to 30 percent post-consumer recycled fiber.

Vegpro, the largest fresh baby lettuces producer in Canada, and Cascades, a leader in eco-friendly recovery, packaging and hygiene solutions, have established a partnership aimed at replacing all Fresh Attitude salad containers, traditionally made from virgin plastic, with 100% recycled and recyclable plastic containers. Custom-designed for Vegpro by Cascades, these containers are manufactured at the Cascades Inopak plant in Drummondville, Québec.

IT Tech Packaging, Inc. announced that it recognized revenue of RMB6.73 million through June 30, 2020 from sale of 6.28 million pieces non-medical single-use face masks since launch of the production line at the end of April 2020.

Dissolving pulp and paper-based solutions company Sappi has launched a skin- and planet-friendly hand hygiene ingredient - Valida - which is based on cellulose and is intended to be used by hygiene product manufacturers in products like hand sanitizers.

Norbord Inc. announced an update regarding the 2Q 2020 capacity utilization of its North American oriented strand board (OSB) and European panel mills.

Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc. has entered into a new distribution partnership with Clampitt Paper Company, a leading privately-held paper merchant servicing customers across the Southwest United States.

Weyerhaeuser will pay a $182,000 fine stemming from a 2017 incident at their Hudson Bay operations when a worker was seriously injured by a forklift.

Gov. John Bel Edwards and Senior Vice President Wayne Morgan of Hood Container of Louisiana LLC announced the company's paper mill in West Feliciana Parish will complete a $50 million efficiency upgrade and capacity expansion..

O-I Glass Inc. (OI) said it has agreed to sell its Australia and New Zealand business unit to Visy Industries.

Atlas Engineered Products has entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire selected assets of a local truss manufacturer as the company expands its geographical footprint into the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, the company said in a statement.

Enviva Partners, LP (the Partnership) has completed the acquisition from its sponsor of Enviva Pellets Greenwood Holdings II, LLC, which, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, owns a wood pellet production plant in Greenwood, South Carolina.

Holmen signed an agreement to acquire Martinsons, one of Sweden's leading players in sawn and processed wood products.

Sussex-based Quad/Graphics Inc. has sold its Versailles, Kentucky book manufacturing plant to Minnesota-based CJK Group Inc.

UFP Industries announced that one of its affiliates acquired the operating assets of T&R Lumber Company and its affiliates, Sullivan & Mann and Kelmar Creations.

Appvion Operations, Inc., launches an industry leading antimicrobial coating technology for a variety of substrates called SafeShieldTM!

Georgia-Pacific has been piloting its Juno recycling technology in Georgia since 2013.

Sappi North America said it will permanently shut down a paper machine and lay off 75 people, nearly 30 percent of the workforce at its Westbrook mill. Just hours later, Pixelle Specialty Solutions said it will lay off 59 workers in the first part of a phased workforce reduction, in response to a suspension of pulp production there after its pulp digester exploded in April.

Lecta Group announces that all necessary conditions precedent required for the implementation of Recapitalization have been obtained and it is expected that the Recapitalization Effective Date will be 16 July 2020.

Sappi Limited said the move will cumulatively remove capacity, reduce costs, improve machine utilization and increase competitiveness.

Unifor is urging the Nova Scotia government to work with Northern Pulp to secure Debtor-In-Possession (DIP) financing amid the company's restructuring.

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.

Amcor has published results from its latest research into consumer perceptions of sustainability and packaging.

The world's biggest wood-pulp producer says cutting down the Amazon makes no business sense.

British Columbia Forest Practices Board proclaimed that an audit of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber-sale licensees operating under the program has found poor results.

International Paper has released its 2019 Global Citizenship Report. The company, one of the leading producers of renewable, fiber-based packaging, pulp and paper, shares the progress it made in 2019 against its 2020 goals and outlines its approach to sustainability across its value chain.

Kimberly-Clark has announced its new 2030 sustainability strategy and goals, aimed at addressing the social and environmental challenges of the next decade with commitments to improve the lives and well-being of one billion people in under-served communities around the world with the smallest environmental footprint.

The Procter & Gamble Company announced a new commitment to have its global operations be carbon neutral for the decade through a series of interventions that protect, improve and restore nature.

British Columbia Forest Practices Board proclaimed that an audit of the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) program and timber-sale licensees operating under the program has found poor results.

Sofidel, one of the world's leading manufacturers of tissue paper for hygienic and domestic use, particularly well-known for its Regina brand, has had its emissions reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as consistent with levels required to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, in line with what the latest climate science says is needed to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Equipment used included five engines, two truck companies, four water tenders, and three command vehicles.

BillerudKorsnäs has made a valuation of approximately 36,000 hectares of forest assets in Sweden, of which approximately 18,000 hectares are productive forests, in which the biological assets are valued according to IAS41.

Emergency crews battled an overnight fire at the Corner Brook mill on Thursday night into early Friday morning, July 17.

Approximately 80 of Georgia-Pacific Muskogee Mill's workers are temporarily being laid off.

International Paper's Director of Marketing Thomas Ryan said that what they found on site in late June was actually not a noose at all.

Mondi has commissioned a crude tall oil plant (CTO-plant) at its Syktyvkar pulp and paper mill in Russia.

All signs continue to point to the Verso paper mill in Wisconsin Rapids shutting down operations on July 31st.

One person was extricated from a 10-foot pit and taken by helicopter to York Hospital after being injured Thursday, July 2, at Pixelle's paper mill's secondary waste treatment facility in North Codorus Township, according to York County 911.

One person was extricated from a 10-foot pit and taken by helicopter to York Hospital after being injured Thursday, July 2, at Pixelle's paper mill's secondary waste treatment facility in North Codorus Township, according to York County 911.

Wisconsin-based Quad/Graphics Inc. stopped a Minneapolis agency from using the phrase "Black Lives Matter," prompting the entire staff to walk off the job last week.