Ahead of the Curve Archive

Uncertainty Clouds the Market in a Volatile World

04 Jan 2017 GRAEME RODDEN Note: This excerpt from the cover feature of the 2017 January/February issue of Paper360° is offered as a special preview to AOTC readers.

5 ways to support the pulp, paper, and packaging industries in the New Year

21 Dec 2016 If you are an Ahead of the Curve reader (and judging from the fact that you’re reading this now, it seems that you ARE) you probably work within the pulp, paper, or packaging industry. Your professional life is dedicated to making or selling pulp, paper, printed materials or packaging (or supporting those who do), and every day on the job you’re working toward a secure and sustainable future for your company and your industry. You believe in the important contributions that paper and packaging have made to human culture, health, safety, and quality of life around the world.

Could plastic bag bans hurt paper?

14 Dec 2016 Producers of paper bags may cheer the idea of banning thin plastic grocery bags. Thousands of them seem to clutter streets and flutter from tree branches in many metropolitan areas, and banning bags made from non-renewable plastic seems like it would be a boon for proponents of sustainable paper bags. Yet in some areas, the bans and fees are including paper bags in what some are calling “regulatory overreach.”

Sustainable fuel takes flight

07 Dec 2016 Alaska Airlines recently became the first to fly jets fueld by alcohol-to-jet fuel (ATJ) made from sustainable US corn. The two flights departed from Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport and flew to San Francisco International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington (DC) National Airport using ATJ fuel produced by Gevo, Inc. Alcohol-to-jet biofuel was approved for use by ASTM International in March 2016, and is the first aviation biofuel to be certified and approved since 2011.

The Perfect Storm: Foreign Exchange, Shipping Rates, Oil Prices, and the Pulp and Paper Industry

30 Nov 2016 By Ming Tan, Analyst and Product Manager, Fisher International There is a storm gathering on the horizon and it has the potential to hit US shores with disruptive effect. The storm’s winds are caused by the dramatic change in the cost of trade that has occurred in the last fifteen months. It is, in fact, a “perfect storm” in its potential effect on US paper manufacturers.

Proud to be a Papermaker

23 Nov 2016 JAN BOTTIGLIERI At the end of each year, the Paper360° team likes to remind readers why the industries served by our publication are truly special with a feature called “Proud to be a Papermaker.” While our companies and products contribute to global commerce, health, energy, technology, education, home environments, and more, it’s our people that truly make us proud.

2016 AF&PA Sustainability Award Winner

16 Nov 2016 The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) presented its 2016 Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 Sustainability Awards at AF&PA’s annual meeting on Friday, Nov. 11 in Cary, NC. Five AF&PA member companies received awards from 23 outstanding submissions across the industry.

Invention, innovation and US jobs

09 Nov 2016 Ben Thorp, Harry Seamans, and Masood Akhtar Biorenewable Deployment Consortium, Madison, WI, USA According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) there were 17,619,000 Americans employed in the manufacturing section in January 1998; by January 2010, this figure had declined to 11,462,000 or a loss of 6,157,000 factory jobs in 12 years (Hemphill et al. 2015). This does not count the number of “consequential” jobs that were also lost. This loss of manufacturing jobs has reached the point of creating national concern.

Has monetary policy reached its limit?

02 Nov 2016 By David Katsnelson, Director, Macroeconomics, RISI Since the global financial crisis in 2007, central banks around the world have taken some extraordinary measures to first rescue banking systems and economies from collapse, and later to support growth. Over that time period, global central banks have cut policy rates 667 times and instituted many unconventional policies, including quantitative easing (QE) and negative interest rates.

Publishers walking back on commitment to digital

26 Oct 2016 Some publishers have begun backtracking on their commitments to digital, writes Ellen Duffer in a recent article at Forbes.com. At the Cheltenham Literature Festival (October 7-16 in Cheltenham, England), Penguin General Books managing director Joanna Prior said the company has started looking more critically at its investments in electronic publishing.