Yesturday the ground was officially broken for the new evaporator and brown stock washing system at Södra’s pulp mill at Mörrum. The investment decision was made in February 2016 and will have several positive effects.

“A ground-breaking ceremony was held today for the new evaporator and brown stock washing system. This investment will enable us to grow with our customers by increasing the production rate for paper and dissolving pulp. The energy balance at the facility will also be improved, which means we can increase our deliveries of district heating and biofuels,” said Stefan Sandberg, Mill Manager.

Caption: Lars Idermark, Södra’s President and CEO, at the ground breaking in Mörrum

Södra’s investment is the second stage of a long-term focus on the pulp mill at Mörrum and brings Södra’s total investment in the facility to SEK 1.7 billion.

Increased production

In addition to investment in a new evaporation plant, the brown stock washing system on the dissolving pulp line will be modernised. The evaporator will raise the production capacity, enabling increased supplies of energy products such as electricity, district heating and biofuels.  This investment will mean that Södra can offer its customers higher volumes of both paper pulp and dissolving pulp, and the expansion will increase the total annual production capacity from 425,000to 470,000 tonnes.

“It is very exciting to be able to make such long-term investments here at Mörrum,” said Mill Manager Stefan Sandberg.

Tuesday’s ground-breaking ceremony took a slightly different turn when Södra’s President and CEO, Lars Idermark, and Mill Manager, Stefan Sandberg, used explosives instead of a spade. They commemorated the start of the project by blowing up a mound of earth.

The ceremony was also attended by Per-Ola Mattsson (Deputy Mayor of the City of Karlshamn), Daniel Wäppling (Chief Executive of the City of Karlshamn), Maria Zimdahl (Segment Executive/Vice President of the Infra Services division at NCC) and Jimmy Lindström (Head of Recycling at Skandinavien Andritz).

The construction project is scheduled for completion by November 2017.

For comments:

Stefan Sandberg, Mill Manager: Tel, +46(0) 454 5550

Toscotec dryer section rebuilt has been successfully started-up at Sonoco Alcore paper mill in Ciriè– Torino, Italy.

The PM1 in Ciriè is specialized for the production of high quality core board grades.

The goal of investment was principally to increase the production, optimizing both efficiency and dryer section runnability by rebuilding of several dryer groups. A total of 15 new TT SteelDryer in place of casted iron dryers has been provided, together with the modernization of mechanical drive and tail threading implementation.
The specific design of TT SteelDryer with flat heads welded to the shell allows to produce a wider and

uniformly dried-out sheet. Toscotec was the first to introduce the revolutionary concept of steel dryers in the  paper  industry. Today it  boasts an  undisputed leadership with  more  than 1200  installed units worldwide.

On completion a new mist removal device has been supplied in the forming section, in order to increase the wet section cleaning and efficiency.
The expected shut-down time was respected and productivity targets were immediately achieved after the start-up.

About Sonoco Alcore
Sonoco Alcore, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sonoco (NYSE:SON), a global provider of consumer packaging, industrial products, protective packaging, and displays and packaging supply chain services. Sonoco Alcore is a leader in high-quality, innovative, value-creating tube and core solutions operating 29 tube and core plants and four paperboard mills in Europe.

About Toscotec S.p.A.
Since 1948, Toscotec offers complete production lines, plant retrofits, and individual machineries for tissue and paper & board industries.

WestRock Company has just announced it will settle $2.5 billion in pension obligations of the WestRock Company Consolidated Pension Plan (“Plan”).  This transaction, which is expected to close in late September and is subject to closing conditions, will occur through the purchase of a group annuity contract using Plan assets that will transfer payment responsibility for retirement benefits owed to approximately 35,000 U.S. retirees and their beneficiaries to The Prudential Insurance Company of America, a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU). This settlement will reduce WestRock’s overall U.S. pension obligations by approximately 40%. The monthly retirement benefit payment amounts currently received by retirees and their beneficiaries are not changing. Those Plan participants not included in the transaction are staying in the Plan.

“WestRock is committed to the long-term financial health of the Plan and has taken steps to protect all participants of the Plan,” said Ward Dickson, WestRock’s chief financial officer.  “This transaction represents a further step towards managing future pension cost and risk, benefiting participants remaining in the Plan while entrusting certain retirees’ and their beneficiaries’ pensions to a financially strong and secure institution with expertise in the long-term management of retirement benefits.”

After the annuity purchase, the Plan is expected to remain in a strong, overfunded financial position. WestRock will not make any cash contributions into the Plan to affect this transaction and, at this time, does not expect to make any future cash contributions.  Additionally, WestRock does not expect any unfavorable impact to its fiscal 2017 pension income as a result of this transaction.

As part of the transaction, State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), a leading independent fiduciary services firm, was appointed as the independent fiduciary to represent the interests of all Plan participants and beneficiaries and objectively select the safest available annuity pursuant to procedures established by the U.S. Department of Labor. SSGA selected a Prudential contract that provides an additional safeguard by segregating assets in a separate account dedicated to the payment of benefits to Plan retirees and their beneficiaries transferred to Prudential. Key advisors to SSGA included AonHewitt Investment Consulting and K&L Gates LLP.

Key advisors to WestRock included: Mercer as lead strategic advisor, Goldman Sachs Asset Management as Outsourced Chief Investment Officer of the Plan and each of Covington & Burling LLP and Mazursky Constantine LLC as legal counsel.

No action is required on the part of retirees and beneficiaries. Affected retirees and beneficiaries will soon receive detailed information packages. 

About WestRock
WestRock (NYSE:WRK) aspires to be the premier partner and unrivaled provider of paper and packaging solutions in consumer and corrugated markets. WestRock's 39,000 team members support customers around the world from more than 250 operating and business locations spanning North America, South America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.westrock.com.

About Prudential

Prudential Retirement delivers retirement plan solutions for public, private and non-profit organizations. Prudential Retirement is a business unit of The Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA), Newark, NJ, and Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company (PRIAC), Hartford, CT, both of which are Prudential Financial companies. Services include defined contribution, defined benefit and non-qualified deferred compensation record keeping, administrative services, investment management, comprehensive employee education and communications, and trustee services, as well as a variety of products and strategies, including institutional investment and income products, pension risk transfer solutions and structured settlement services. With over 85 years of retirement experience, Prudential Retirement helps meet the needs of 4.1 million participants and annuitants. Prudential Retirement has $374.9 billion in retirement account values as of Jun. 30, 2016. Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), a financial services leader with over $1 trillion of assets under management as of June 30, 2016, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America.  Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com. Insurance products are issued by PICA and PRIAC, both of which also provide retirement products and services. Each company is solely responsible for its financial condition and contractual obligations.

Valmet has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the third consecutive year and thus maintains its position among the world's sustainability leaders. Valmet was listed both in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and Europe indices.

The annual evaluation conducted by a Swiss investment specialist RobecoSAM comprehensively reviews the company's performance with regard to social, environmental and financial factors. In total 316 companies were included in the DJSI World for 2016-2017.

"Maintaining our position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index is an excellent achievement for Valmet. It proofs that we have been able to improve our sustainability performance year by year, which is a key criteria for inclusion. We have systematically proceeded with our sustainability agenda, and by doing so achieved many concrete results. We will now continue this work by implementing our updated sustainability action plans for the next three years," says Pasi Laine, President and CEO of Valmet Corporation.

Valmet defined its sustainability agenda named Sustainability360º initially in early 2014. The agenda focuses on five core areas: sustainable supply chain; health, safety and environment; people and performance; sustainable solutions, and corporate citizenship. In the action plans for 2016-2018, special focus continues on ensuring a globally sustainable supply chain and continuous improvement of safety culture.

About the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices

The DJSI is a sustainability index family which includes the global sustainability leaders across industries. The company inclusion is based on a best-in-class approach, which means that the indices only include the top ranked companies within each industry. The index serves as a benchmark for investors who are committed to ethical investing and review companies' sustainability performance as part of their analyses.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Resolute Forest Products Inc. (NYSE: RFP) (TSX: RFP) today announced that it has entered into a new senior secured credit agreement with an aggregate lender commitment of up to $185 million. The agreement is comprised of a $46.25 million nine-year term loan and a $138.75 million six-year revolving credit facility.

"We took advantage of favorable market conditions to increase our already solid liquidity levels by 50 percent to about $535 million. These new facilities provide us flexible terms and conditions, long maturities, and no repayment penalties," said Jo-Ann Longworth, senior vice president and chief financial officer. "They also represent an excellent opportunity to secure additional liquidity at very competitive rates and will further enhance our flexibility in the execution of our growth and diversification strategy." 

The company's immediate intentions are to use proceeds of the new credit facilities to repay most of the current balance on its existing ABL revolving credit facility. Both the existing and the new revolving credit facilities will then be used, as required, for general corporate purposes, notably to complete the funding requirements related to the company's tissue project at its Calhoun (Tennessee) mill.

The new credit agreement contains customary covenants, representations, and warranties and events of default for credit agreements of this type. Resolute's obligations under the facilities are guaranteed by certain material U.S. subsidiaries and are secured by first priority liens on assets located at the Calhoun mill. The credit agreement also provides for an uncommitted ability to increase the facilities by up to $175 million, subject to certain terms and conditions.

The new financing was arranged and syndicated by American AgCredit. Troutman Sanders LLP represented Resolute, assisted by Bass Berry & Sims.

About Resolute Forest Products
Resolute Forest Products is a global leader in the forest products industry with a diverse range of products, including market pulp, tissue, wood products, newsprint and specialty papers. The company owns or operates over 40 pulp, paper, tissue and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada and South Korea, as well as power generation assets in Canada and the United States. Marketing its products in close to 80 countries, Resolute has third-party certified 100% of its managed woodlands to internationally recognized sustainable forest management standards. The shares of Resolute Forest Products trade under the stock symbol RFP on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Resolute has received regional, North American and global recognition for its leadership in corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, as well as for its business practices. Visit resolutefp.com for more information.

As Valmet announced by stock exchange release on February 20, 2015, Andritz Oy had filed an application for summons with the Stockholm District Court against Valmet AB, a subsidiary of Valmet, regarding alleged patent infringement. Andritz requested that the court order Valmet to cease the use of the technology described in said patent. Further, Andritz demanded that Valmet pay damages with EUR 54 million.

The validity of the patent has been challenged by Valmet, and as announced by stock exchange release on April 8, 2016, the Swedish Court of Patent Appeals on March 23, 2016, agreed with Valmet and revoked Andritz' patent in full.

Following Andritz' subsequent appeal, the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court has in a decision of August 30, 2016, now refused leave to appeal. The decision to revoke Andritz' patent is thus upheld and the Swedish patent SE 531498 is permanently invalidated. This entails legally that the patent is deemed to never have existed, and as a consequence Andritz' claims for damages in the infringement case in Stockholm District Court are unfounded on all grounds.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Stora Enso has completed the divestment announced on 1 June 2016 of its Kabel coated mechanical paper mill in Germany, to Kabel Premium Pulp & Paper GmbH, owned by a German based investor group.

The total cash consideration for the divestment is approximately EUR 25 million, subject to final closing adjustments.

The loss on disposal amounts in total to EUR 15 million. The effect on operating profit is approximately EUR 5 million, and the negative tax impact is approximately EUR 10 million. These were recorded as an item affecting comparability (IAC) in Stora Enso’s second quarter 2016 results. Approximately EUR 17 million of pension liabilities were transferred to the new owner with the transaction.

Based on 2015 annual figures, the transaction decreases Stora Enso’s annual sales by approximately EUR 300 million and simultaneously decreases Stora Enso’s annual coated mechanical paper production capacity by around 485 000 tonnes. The Kabel Mill employs approximately 540 people and was part of Stora Enso’s Paper division.

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets. Our aim is to replace fossil based materials by innovating and developing new products and services based on wood and other renewable materials. We employ some 26 000 people in more than 35 countries, and our sales in 2015 were EUR 10.0 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) on the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. storaenso.com

To further improve efficiency and strengthen the competitiveness of its tissue operations, SCA has decided to implement restructuring measures at its production plants in Hondouville and Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France. The restructuring measures are aligned with the company’s strategy to improve production efficiency in order to drive cost and capital efficiency and further increase value creation in the Tissue business area.

The restructuring measures include the closure of the oldest tissue machine in Hondouville and personnel reductions at Hondouville and Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. In Hondouville, where SCA manufactures Away-from-Home tissue, production will be concentrated to more efficient machines, thus enabling production levels to be maintained. In Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, SCA has decided to divest production of tabletop products for consumers to focus on the plant’s core operation: kitchen roll and toilet paper production. The measures will lead to lower production costs and increased competitiveness.

Total costs are expected to amount to approximately SEK 500m, of which about SEK 470m will be recognized as an item affecting comparability in the third quarter of 2016. The remaining costs will be recognized as an item affecting comparability in the fourth quarter of 2016. Of these costs, approximately SEK 340m is expected to affect cash flow.

France is a prioritized market for SCA and is the company’s fourth-largest market based on sales in 2015.

SCA is a leading global hygiene and forest products company. The Group develops and produces sustainable personal care, tissue and forest products. Sales are conducted in about 100 countries under many strong brands, including the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and regional brands, such as Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, Vinda and Zewa. As Europe’s largest private forest owner, SCA places considerable emphasis on sustainable forest management. The Group has about 44,000 employees. Sales in 2015 amounted to approximately SEK 115bn (EUR 12.3bn). SCA was founded in 1929, has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. For more information, visit www.sca.com.

In October 2015, Yuen Foong Yu has signed a contract with PMP for rebuild of TM#7 in Ching Shui Mill (Taiwan). The delivery included steel Intelli-YD®, Intelli-Hood® and Steam & Condensate system. Thus it is our pleasure to announce that in August 2016, TM#7 equipped with PMP’s state-of-the-art technology has been successfully started-up!

This time, the scope of supply covered 12’ steel YD designed and manufactured by PMP (2420 mm sheet width on Yankee), a high efficiency Yankee hood supplied with an air fan – Intelli-Hood® – and a Steam & Condensate equipment. Designed Yankee is a steel welded construction with bolted on journals. In order to increase Yankee’s efficiency, PMP offered optimized and tailor-made solutions. Intelli-YDTM designed for YFY is capable to operate up to 9.5 bar(g) of steam pressure and a maximum design speed of 1200 mpm. Additionally PMP exchanged existing steam Yankee Hood with Yankee Cap to reduce steam consumption. Changes in the Steam & Condensate system were implemented to fit new system conditions.

YFY decided to choose PMP Intelli-YD® due to great running references representing very high performance and ultra-low media consumption. This project is an example where PMP’s technological knowledge combined with high-tech equipment can become a key factor to achieve common success.

About YFY:
Yuen Foong Yu – one of the leading Asian Corporations with a turnover of 1.8 billion US dollars, ranked in the top 5 among tissue producers in China, was founded in 1925. At present, YFY is active in three business areas: fine paper & board, packaging and consumer products. It owns 23 facilities in China, Taiwan and Vietnam. YFY’s activity within the tissue sector is focused on delivering value for consumers through Mayflower, Tender and Delight brands mainly in China and Taiwan. (learn more: www.yfy.com)

About PMP:
PMP – a global provider of tissue, paper & board technology, has been supporting pulp and paper industry for over 160 years, executing projects on 6 continents, in 33 countries. Company with headquarters in Jelenia Góra, Poland, owns 6 facilities in 4 countries (Poland, USA, China, Italy). PMP is a recognized international player in both paper & tissue industry. At the end of December 2015, PMP introduced new branding initiative including launching a new logo & visual identity. (learn more: www.pmpgroup.com)