Displaying items by tag: appleton

Double E Company LLC, 319 Manley Street, West Bridgewater, MA recently purchased Appleton Mfg. Division.  Headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, Appleton Mfg. Division joins Epoch Rollers and Double E Europe (STCMi), under the Incline Equity Partners owned, Double E Company LLC group.

“The acquisition is Double E’s second in the last 12 months, building on a market strategy to offer single source solutions for all your web handling needs”, said Double E’s CEO, Tom Pranka. “We are excited to welcome Appleton into the Double E family and honored to be associated with a company with such broad and deep roots in the web handling and converting industries.”

Appleton Mfg. Division is a fully integrated engineering, design, sales, service and manufacturing firm.  It is the industry’s leading provider of core cutters, core handling and finishing equipment, roll and cart movers, and related core processing and handling solutions. Its origins date back more than 100 years in the paper and web handling industry.

Ron Hirn, Appleton’s President reflects, “The Appleton Manufacturing/Double E combination results in a stronger team overall, allowing us to leverage the skills and specialties of both organizations into a company that delivers ever more value to our customers.”  www.appletonmfg.com

Double E Company is the premier supplier of engineered solutions for Core Chucks, Safety Chucks, Core Plugs, Core Shafts, Idler Rollers, Reel Spools and associated accessories to the web handling industry world-wide.  www.ee-co.com

Appleton and Domtar Corporation today announced a tentative agreement in which Domtar would supply Appleton with most of the uncoated base paper the company needs to produce its thermal, carbonless, and other specialty paper products. The historic 15-year supply deal is valued at more than $3 billion over the life of the agreement. The deal would bring together Appleton, one of the world's leading specialty coaters, and Domtar, the largest integrated manufacturer of uncoated paper in North America.

The proposed supply agreement would provide Appleton with reliable access to competitively-priced, high-quality base paper for all its paper segments and reduce the company's exposure to unpredictable market costs for pulp and waste paper. Appleton would become more competitive with integrated paper companies. The proposed agreement would also enable Appleton to place greater focus on its core capabilities of coating formulations and applications, strengths on which the company was founded more than 100 years ago. Domtar would gain significant and predictable volume for its base paper business driven by demand in Appleton's growing global thermal paper business.

"We operate in a capital and resource-intensive industry," said Mark Richards, Appleton's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Successful companies will be ones who find more efficient ways to operate and deliver value to their customers. For some that means greater and more efficient use of their assets; for others it may involve closing operations that limit efficiency."

"The proposed supply agreement with Domtar involves both, and Appleton stands to gain significant operating efficiencies. We believe the proposal also demonstrates Appleton's deep commitment to our customers and to the future of the specialty paper business."

John D. Williams, Domtar's president and chief executive officer, stated, "This proposed agreement provides us with an opportunity to repurpose and replace high volume communication paper capacity to specialty paper grades, while securing a growing business long-term. This innovative agreement is consistent with our strategic plan that aims to bring growth into our revenue stream capitalizing on our core competencies. We appreciate the trust and support of Appleton and their interest in further deepening our long standing business relationship."

Appleton currently produces base paper at mills in West Carrollton, Ohio, and Roaring Spring, Pa. The company purchases any additional base paper it needs from other paper producers including Domtar. Appleton also buys a large amount of waste paper and pulp, primarily for its West Carrollton mill, both of which are susceptible to significant price volatility.

By purchasing the majority of its base paper supply from Domtar, Appleton would stabilize a significant expenditure and enable the company to shed old, high-cost, non-integrated papermaking assets. Appleton is proposing to cease recycled fiber processing and paper production at its West Carrollton mill. The company would continue to operate the world-class thermal paper coating operations installed there in 2008.

The proposed supply agreement would result in a reduction of approximately 330 jobs at the West Carrollton mill. Assuming the plan is finalized, approximately 100 employees would be retained to continue to operate the thermal paper coating facility. Carbonless paper coating currently conducted at West Carrollton would be shifted to the company's converting plant in Appleton, Wis., and result in an increase of approximately 50 jobs at that facility. Employment and operations at Appleton's integrated pulp and paper mill in Roaring Spring, Pa., would be unaffected by the agreement.

The agreement is pending discussions with representatives of West Carrollton's Local 266 of the United Steelworkers regarding the reasons the company chose to pursue the agreement.

"We believe our proposal to discontinue papermaking operations at West Carrollton is a competitive necessity and not a reflection of the talent or commitment of our mill employees," Richards said. "Our employees have never wavered in their dedication to excellence and to serving our customers. What has changed is the economics of the industry in which we compete."

He added that non-integrated paper mills, those not capable of producing pulp from logs or wood chips, are distinctly disadvantaged and no longer competitive. Worldwide demand for pulp has driven its market price to historic highs.

"Because we buy pulp on the open market, it costs Appleton considerably more to make base paper than it costs a producer like Domtar, which can supply its own pulp. Our proposed operational changes, as difficult as they may be for many of our employees in West Carrollton, are needed for our company to remain competitive," Richards said.

The West Carrollton mill was built in 1948 by the American Envelope Company. Appleton purchased the mill in 1984 and has made substantial investments to improve the mill's capabilities and productivity. The most significant investment occurred in 2008 when the company completed a $100-million expansion that included the installation of a state-of-the-art coater to produce thermal paper and construction of related facilities.

Richards said the company will continue thermal paper coating operations at the mill and that the new coater remains the foundation on which Appleton will expand its leadership in the growing, global thermal paper business.

Conference call scheduled
Appleton will host a conference call to discuss the proposed supply agreement with the investment community on Friday, February 24, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. ET. The call will be broadcast through the company website, www.appletonideas.com/investors. A replay will be available through March 24.

SOURCE Appleton; Domtar Corporation

Appleton and Domtar Corp. have reached a tentative agreement in which Domtar would supply Appleton with most of the uncoated base paper the company needs to produce its thermal, carbonless, and other specialty paper products. The historic 15-year supply deal is valued at more than $3 billion over the life of the agreement. Appleton is one of the world's leading specialty coaters, and while Domtar is the largest integrated manufacturer of uncoated paper in North America.

Integrated is the key word here.

Explaining the deal, Mark Richards, Appleton's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said that non-integrated paper mills, those not capable of producing pulp from logs or wood chips, are distinctly disadvantaged and no longer competitive. Worldwide demand for pulp has driven its market price to historic highs.

“Because we buy pulp on the open market, it costs Appleton considerably more to make base paper than it costs a producer like Domtar, which can supply its own pulp. Our proposed operational changes, as difficult as they may be for many of our employees in West Carrollton, are needed for our company to remain competitive," Richards said.

The proposed supply agreement would result in a reduction of approximately 330 jobs at the West Carrollton mill. Assuming the plan is finalized, approximately 100 employees would be retained to continue to operate the thermal paper coating facility. Employment and operations at Appleton's integrated pulp and paper mill in Roaring Spring, Pa., would be unaffected by the agreement.

The agreement is pending discussions with representatives of West Carrollton's Local 266 of the United Steelworkers.

The proposed supply agreement would reduce the company's exposure to unpredictable market costs for pulp and waste paper.

Domtar would gain significant and predictable volume for its base paper business driven by demand in Appleton's growing global thermal paper business.

John D. Williams, Domtar's president and chief executive officer, stated, “This proposed agreement provides us with an opportunity to repurpose and replace high volume communication paper capacity to specialty paper grades, while securing a growing business long-term."

source: http://www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Appleton Coated LLC, NewPage Corporation, and Sappi Fine Paper North America – together with the United Steelworkers (USW) -- welcomed the U.S. International Trade Commission's (ITC) finding today that imports of coated paper from China and Indonesia are causing material injury to U.S. producers and workers.  That finding was based on a 6-0 vote by the bipartisan commission.

The ITC decision clears the way for the U.S. Department of Commerce to impose antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of coated free sheet paper from these countries.  On Sept. 21, 2010, the agency issued its final determination citing imports from China and Indonesia as being both dumped and subsidized by significant margins.

The Commerce Dept. found that producers or exporters dumped coated paper in the United States at margins of 7.6-135.83 percent for China, and 20.13 percent for Indonesia. The agency also determined that these producers or exporters received countervailable subsidies ranging from 17.64-178.03 percent for China, and 17.94 percent for Indonesia.

Coated paper covered by the cases is used in many high-end commercial printing applications, including annual reports, coffee table books, magazines and brochures.

"NewPage is very pleased with the International Trade Commission's finding on injury," said George Martin, president and chief executive officer of NewPage.  "Today's determination underscores the effects of unfair competition on the U.S. industry, where government subsidies and dumping have suppressed prices and forced mill closures," said Martin.  "The decision will allow the Commerce Department to impose duties to offset the significant levels of dumping and government subsidies that were found to exist last month."  Martin added, "We will remain committed to this effort and it's important to remember that we are willing to compete with anyone in the world as long as we have a level playing field."

"We've waited a long time for this decision, which will help restore a competitive market," added Mark Gardner, president and chief executive officer of Sappi Fine Paper North America.  "For far too long, some of our competitors have been able to get away with unfair and illegal dumping and subsidies to sell their products.  The ITC's decision puts us one step closer to being able to compete fairly based on the quality of our products, the investments we make in our mills, equipment and people, and the sustainable manufacturing and procurement practices we implement and pursue," said Gardner.

Sandra Van Ert, president and chief executive officer of Appleton Coated LLC said, "The ITC finding of injury is testimony to what we, our workers and the communities in which we operate have been experiencing for far too long.  In this instance, our trade laws have worked and will help restore not only legal competition in the marketplace, but the faith of our employees that work hard, play by the rules and only want a fair chance to compete."

Jon Geenen, USW international vice president, declared, "Today's decision shows that these predatory trade practices by the Chinese and Indonesian exporters are unfair, illegal and injurious to our employers and their workers. We will not ignore the efforts of our foreign competitors who want to violate international trade standards to succeed at the expense of our union members' jobs -- that's a fight we'll never back away from."
 
Once the final antidumping and countervailing duty orders are published in the Federal Register, the U.S. Customs agency will begin applying duties on Chinese and Indonesian coated paper imports.
 
The companies and the USW filed unfair trade cases Sept. 23, 2009 with the Commerce Dept. and the ITC, alleging that certain coated paper from China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized, resulting in injury to the domestic industry and its employees.
 
The domestic industry has experienced capacity reductions and under-utilization resulting in the loss of jobs in communities all across the country.  The petitions show that unfairly traded imports from China and Indonesia are a significant contributor to that underutilization of capacity, mill closures and resultant job loss.  

The three companies employ about 6,000 production workers represented by the USW at 20 paper mills operating in seven states.

About Appleton Coated

Appleton Coated, headquartered in Combined Locks, Wisconsin, provides focused market leadership in premium coated and specialty paper products. The Appleton Coated product portfolio includes a range of commercial printing and book publishing papers marketed under the Utopia® brand as well as specialty and private label products. Known for their performance, aesthetics, and environmental attributes, Appleton Coated manufactures their products in a state-of-the-art facility in Combined Locks, Wisconsin, hosting the newest papermaking machine of its type in North America.  For more information please visit our website at www.appletoncoated.com/.

About NewPage Corporation

Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with $3.1 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2009. The company's product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.
 
NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated paper and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper.  For more information, visit www.NewPageCorp.com.
 
About Sappi Fine Paper North America

Sappi Fine Paper North America (SFPNA) is a leading North American producer of coated fine paper used in premium magazines, catalogues, books and high-end print advertising. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Sappi Fine Paper North America is known for innovation and quality. Its brand names, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are some of the industry's most widely recognized and specified. SFPNA is a division of Sappi Limited (NYSE, JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with manufacturing operations on four continents in 10 countries, sales offices in 50 countries, and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi Fine Paper North America at: www.sappi.com/na/.

About the United Steelworkers

The United Steelworkers (USW) is a North American union headquartered in Pittsburgh. The union negotiates labor agreements representing 850,000 active workers employed in a variety of major industries that include metals, mining, pulp, paper, timber, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto parts, oil, and energy renewables. The USW also represents service and professional sector workers to include healthcare, municipalities and pharmaceuticals. For more information: www.usw.org/.

SOURCE NewPage Corporation

Appleton Coated LLC, NewPage Corporation, and Sappi Fine Paper North America – together with the United Steelworkers (USW) -- commended the U.S. Department of Commerce for its preliminary dumping duty determinations against certain coated paper imports from China and Indonesia.

If these preliminary determinations are upheld at the end of the process tariffs will be imposed on imports of certain coated paper to offset the impact of the unfair advantage caused by the dumped products. The determination placed dumping margins on Chinese coated paper ranging from 30.82% to 89.71% with an all China rate of 135.80%. The Department found that a single rate of 10.62% should apply to all Indonesian coated paper producers.

The result of the Department's actions will be the immediate requirement for importers of covered paper from the subject countries to post a bond or deposit cash in an amount equal to the announced margins pending final resolution of the cases later this year.

The companies and the USW filed unfair trade cases on September 23, 2009 with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging that certain coated paper from China and Indonesia had been dumped and subsidized resulting in injury to the domestic industry and its employees. The paper products covered by the petitions include coated paper in sheet form used in high-quality writing, printing and other graphic applications, with a GE brightness rating of 80 or higher and weighing up to 340 grams per square meter.

The decision by the DOC supports the allegations in the petitions that imports from these two countries are being dumped. Dumping occurs when a foreign producer sells into the U.S. market for less than the price that a producer charges in its home market or when its U.S. prices are below the cost to produce the product.

Today's decision follows the Commerce Department's determination on March 1, 2010 that Chinese and Indonesian coated paper producers benefitted from a variety of subsidies and the International Trade Commission's earlier preliminary decision finding that the domestic industry had been injured by Chinese and Indonesian paper imports.

In addition, the DOC noted that it is reviewing the Petitioners' allegation that undervaluation of China's currency provides a subsidy, as well as other new subsidy allegations in the China subsidy investigation, which could make a difference in the rates assessed in the final determination.

Leo W. Gerard, USW international president, said, “Commerce's announced dumping margins will begin to address Chinese and Indonesian unfair and predatory trade practices in this sector.  It's high time that paper sector dumping is addressed. The loss of jobs and resulting community impact has been devastating.  China's and Indonesia's practices are unacceptable and the tariff margins come as welcome news.”

“Commerce's recognition of the impact that dumped coated paper products have had sends a message that our government is interested in restoring a competitive market in coated paper. From day one, our goal has been to restore a level playing field and that's what our case is all about. Dumping has had a dramatic adverse impact on our industry and our economy as a whole and Commerce's decision opens the door to addressing this unfair practice,” said Mark Gardner , president and chief executive officer of Sappi Fine Paper North America.

Tom Curley, president and chief executive officer of NewPage Corporation, said, “The determination announced today by the Department of Commerce will help restore fair competition to our marketplace.  Dumping and subsidies have distorted our markets, placing domestic manufacturers at a distinct disadvantage.  We're proud of our product offerings and we're not afraid to compete fairly with anyone, domestic or foreign.”

John Cappy, president and chief executive officer of Appleton Coated LLC, said, “Dumping has benefitted Chinese and Indonesian producers at the expense of producers here in the U.S. Our companies have worked hard to build sustainable businesses by investing in our people and equipment to remain competitive and by supporting sustainable forestry to preserve our resources. Our employees deserve a chance to compete without fighting unfair subsidies and dumping by foreign competitors.”

The domestic industry has experienced capacity reductions and under-utilization resulting in the loss of jobs in communities all across the country. The petitions show that unfairly traded imports from China and Indonesia are a significant contributor to that underutilization of capacity, mill closures and resultant job loss.

The three companies employ about 6,000 production workers represented by the USW at 20 paper mills operating in seven states.

About Appleton Coated

Appleton Coated, headquartered in Kimberly , Wisconsin , provides focused market leadership in premium coated and specialty paper products. The Appleton Coated product portfolio includes a range of commercial printing and book publishing papers marketed under the Utopia® brand as well as specialty and private label products. Known for their performance, aesthetics, and environmental attributes, Appleton Coated manufactures their products in a state-of-the-art facility in Combined Locks, Wisconsin, hosting the newest papermaking machine of its type in North America. For more information please visit our website at www.appletoncoated.com /.

About NewPage Corporation

Headquartered in Miamisburg , Ohio , NewPage Corporation is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America , based on production capacity, with $3.1 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2009. The company's product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications and direct mail advertising.

NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky , Maine , Maryland , Michigan , Minnesota , Wisconsin and Nova Scotia , Canada . These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.4 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.2 million tons of coated paper, approximately 1.0 million tons of uncoated paper and approximately 200,000 tons of specialty paper.  For more information, visit www.NewPageCorp.com .

About Sappi Fine Paper North America

Sappi Fine Paper North America (SFPNA) is a leading North American producer of coated fine paper used in premium magazines, catalogues, books and high-end print advertising. Headquartered in Boston , Massachusetts , Sappi Fine Paper North America is known for innovation and quality. Its brand names, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are some of the industry's most widely recognized and specified. SFPNA is a division of Sappi Limited (NYSE, JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg , South Africa , with manufacturing operations on four continents in 10 countries, sales offices in 50 countries, and customers in over 100 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi Fine Paper North America at: www.sappi.com/na/ . For the media kit and past press releases, visit the “About Us” section of the website.

About the United Steelworkers

The United Steelworkers (USW) is a North American union headquartered in Pittsburgh that negotiates labor agreements representing 850,000 active workers employed in metals, mining, pulp, paper, timber, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply, energy producing industries, plus the service and professional sectors to include healthcare, municipalities and pharmaceuticals. For more information: www.usw.org/ .

Media Contacts:
Ann Whalen, Appleton Coated LLC, 920-968-3809, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Shawn Hall, NewPage Corporation, 937-242-9373, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Amy Olson , Sappi Fine Paper North America, 617-423-5409, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Gary Hubbard, United Steelworkers (USW), 202-256-8125, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.