TAPPI is pleased to announce the formation of a new International Nanotechnology Division focused on renewable materials. This announcement builds on the success and growth TAPPI's International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials (June 6-8, 2011 in Washington DC – www.tappinano.org). This Division will focus on the advancements in research and development of cellulose nanomaterials, not only in traditional forest-based products such as pulp, paper and building materials, but also in coatings, plastics, digital displays, military body armors and medical implants. It will serve as a forum for knowledge sharing in the Nanotechnology industry. The division will be comprised of members who work for academia, government, consulting companies, producers, suppliers and others in the industry. To learn more or join this new division of TAPPI e-mail Mary Ann Cauthen, title, at mcauthen@tappi.org. Back To Top

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Tissue performance properties and manufacturing practices will be explored from several production-oriented perspectives at the 2011 TAPPI Tissue Properties and Manufacture Course April 13 - 17 in Appleton, Wis., USA. This special course is designed for participants who need an intermediate level, comprehensive, and structured course on tissue properties, and the effect of manufacturing processes on product performance properties. Course topics cover:

• Tissue properties and tests and how these relate to sheet structure
• Performance effects of fiber raw materials, pulp mill, and recycling operations
• Stock prep refining for tissue
• Chemicals for tissue
• Tissue machine wet end operations and effects on sheet structure and properties, multilayer headboxes, formation, fiber orientation, dewatering, and fabrics for sheet forming and sheet structure
• TAD and yankee drying and effects on properties
• Wet felts for obtaining desired sheet structure
• Creping
• Calendering
• Embossing.

Instructor Michael J. Kocurek, PhD, Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University, has taught this tissue short course to operators at multiple corporations and mills. Dr. Kocurek has taught Paper Properties for undergraduate students for 18 years at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and at North Carolina State University. He has taught TAPPI's oldest and highly ranked short course on Introduction to Pulp Paper for more than 37 years.

Instructor Darren K. Swales, PhD, is technical applications group manager for Kemira North America, This group interfaces closely with Kemira's sales and research and development, as well as mill production staff to facilitate product development and application knowledge. Dr. Swales is an active member of TAPPI, vice-chair of the Paper Additives subcommittee, and the Additives track manager for PaperCon 2011.

More information about this course and online registration is available on the TAPPI Website. Register before March 23 and saved $100.

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The 2011 Tissue Runnability Course, April 11 - 13 at TAPPI headquarters in Norcross, Ga., USA. is designed to help attendees gain a thorough understanding of the tissue making process at many levels and acquire effective methods to advance their own mill operations. Generally, the course focuses on improving product quality, diminishing waste and poor output, reducing frustration and thumb-twiddling downtime, and thrusting production into high gear. More specifically, it will help participants: ·

• Understand the impact of recycled furnishes on paper characteristics ·
• Incorporate principles of wet-end chemistry into the machine operation ·
• Improve the cleaning and conditioning of felts and wires ·
• Recognize causes of tissue runnability problems in press/yankee/hood drying systems ·
• Identify improvement opportunities on the dry-end of the paper machine
• Pinpoint problems with yankee dryer steam, coating, and hood systems to increase machine productivity.

Lead by industry-recognized instructors, the Tissue Runnability Course is expressly designed for engineers, machine supervisors, technical resources, lead operators, and technical personnel in tissue and towel mills. TAPPI will award CEU credits to participants who attend at least 80% of the educational sessions and complete a final program evaluation.

More information about this course and online registration is available on the TAPPI web site.

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Softwood list prices are set to rise $30/metric ton in March, according to Mark Wilde, senior analyst with Deutsche Bank. This will take NBSK to $990/metric ton in the U.S., $980/metric ton in Europe, and $890 - $900/metric ton in China, Wilde adds. Spot prices have jumped $60/metric ton in the last month to $770 - $810/metric ton, and reports suggest some spot deals as high as $830. Chinese demand for NBSK remains strong. Substitution of high-priced dissolving pulp by NBSK is providing an incremental demand boost. In March, hardwood "list" prices are expected to be flat m/m, Wilde notes.

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All of the major North American mills have announced a $40/ton hike on offset rolls, effective late March/early April, Wilde reports. The increase excludes cutsize, envelope, and converting grades. The key rationale has been escalating input costs for fiber, energy, and chemicals. Offset demand appears to be better than cutsize, driven by a steady recovery in commercial printing. Cutsize appears a bit more sluggish at the moment. In January, shipments were down 3.7% y/y. In February, estimated offset prices were flat at $930/ton and 20-lb repro bond prices were flat at $1,095/ton., Wilde says.

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January box shipments growth of 2.1% y/y on a blended basis was slightly weaker than expected, according to Wilde. Inventories rose 163,000 tons m/m versus the average 10-yr increase of ˜100,000 tons. "However, we think January numbers were distorted by a combination of holiday timing and unusually severe weather across many parts of the U.S. January ISM data, which historically have been a good indicator of industry volumes, suggest corrugated boxes should continue to see gradual volume recovery. Meanwhile, export prices appear to be stabilizing around the high-$400/ton FAS range in key markets," Wilde reports.

"In Europe, producers appear "reasonably successful" in pushing through a EUR 50 - 60/metric ton price hike on recycled containerboard. At the moment, we'd characterize the domestic market as balanced. However, we expect that U.S. producers may still attempt to boost prices in May," Wilde adds.

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Increasing demand for wood raw materials in the U.S. indicates higher pine stumpage prices for forest owners and investors, according to Forisk Consulting, Athens, Ga., USA. Forisk forecasts saw timber prices for the U.S. South strengthening 4.6% into 2012 and 5.5% into 2013 as lumber production increases with housing starts. Alternately, pine pulpwood – the lower valued raw material used for pulp, OSB, and bioenergy – gains 1.4% and 2.7% into 2012 and 2013 South-wide, with high variance across the 11 states covered in Forisk's models. The ForiskFORECAST emphasizes the limits of regional or national forecasts for timber markets, and the critical importance of assessing timber prices locally.

In 2011, states such as Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi show saw timber prices exceeding $30/ton, and Florida and Louisiana surpassing $11/ton for pine pulpwood. Prices change annually across and between states in the 10-year forecast as local mills adjust to end-market demands. The benefit to forecast users of this bottom-up approach was evident in 2010.

"In 2010, Forisk's saw timber forecast was within 4% of actual prices, and within 1% for key end-use markets such as paper and paperboard," said Dr. Tim Sydor, Forisk's forest economist. "The key is understanding and updating the local, state-specific relationship – the elasticity – between wood demand and prices."

The ForiskFORECAST: Pine Sawtimber and Pine Pulpwood predicts annual pine sawtimber and pulpwood stumpage prices across the U.S. South and by state through 2020, and forecasts the production of lumber and paper and paperboard, as well as the demand for wood from emerging bioenergy markets.

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Burrows Paper, Little Falls, N.Y., USA, reports that it has completed the rebuild of its No. 41 paper machine at Pickens, Miss. The rebuild project included a new 15-ft MG cylinder and integrated hood as well as a new winder to handle the higher speed and output of the machine.

Specializing in a broad range of lightweight printing and packaging papers as well as specialty tissue products, Burrows operates five paper machines in four mills located in New York State and Mississippi.

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Cascades Inc., Kingsey Falls, Que., Canada, reports that it has started up PM 2 at Candiac, Que., becoming the first North American tissue manufacturer to adopt the Voith (Germany) ATMOS (Advanced Tissue Molding System) technology. The new technology reportedly will allow the Candiac mill to produce tissue products with reduced recycled fiber, water, energy, and chemical products.

The company said that the project involves an investment of more than $30 million, with Investissement Quebec, a provincial industrial financing agency, contributing some $4.9 million. In the next few weeks, Cascades noted that it will add a new line of "TAD equivalent" Ultra bathroom tissue (produced on PM 2) to its existing Enviro line.

"Since its foundation, and well before it became in fashion, Cascades believed in sustainable development. That is why we have invested in a new TAD equivalent technology that enables us to produce premium and ultra quality tissue paper, while being even more mindful of the environment," Suzanne Blanchet, president and CEO of Cascades Tissue Group, said..

Cascades produces, converts, and markets packaging and tissue products made mainly from recycled fibers. The company employs some 12,500 employees who work in more than 100

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China's imports of woodchips increased 340% between 2008 and 2010, and import levels are expected to more than double by 2015, according to a new RISI, Boston, Mass., USA, report. The prediction is included in the Special Market Analysis Study: The 18th annual International Pulpwood Trade Review, released this week. This year's Review provides detailed information on changes to global demand and supply for pulpwood fiber, as well as a comprehensive register of global pulp and woodchip suppliers, traders, and buyers.

The Review also includes details on woodchip trading companies and end-users, along with details on 135 woodchip export operations around the world and a complete listing of the 168 specialized woodchip carriers in service in early 2011, including owners and charterers.

Robert Flynn, co-author of the Review, noted that "the international woodchip trade jumped to record levels in 2010, in both the Pacific and Atlantic markets, and biomass exports from North America to Europe also hit an all-time record. This was good news for those connected to the market, considering that 2009 was a terrible year for the woodchip trade, and that was followed by the major earthquake in Chile, one of the world's largest woodchip suppliers. Looking ahead, there will be new woodchip suppliers starting up export operations in at least eight countries in 2011 - 2012, in response to continued global growth in these markets."

However, co-author Dennis Neilson cautioned that "larger volumes do not always mean larger or even sufficient margins for suppliers. Landowners are realizing lower returns, and coupled with slower economies and rising food and fuel prices, we are predicting some plantations will switch to more profitable crops, or that some landowners will simply sell their land after harvesting. So we look to 2011 with clear signs of growing demand in the markets, but also increasing uncertainty that woodchip prices will be sufficient to ensure that available supply will be adequate to meet that demand in the future."

A complete prospectus of the 2011 edition of the International Pulpwood Trade Review is available online.

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Hayat Kimya A.S., Turkey, has started up its new Metso Advantage DCT 200 TS tissue line at its mill in Yeniköy, located near the city of Izmit in Turkey. The Hayat Kimya TM 2 reportedly started up smoothly and on schedule, producing a saleable product from the outset.

"We reached a successful startup thanks to good cooperation and efforts by the Metso personnel in a record short time of 13 months from the contract signing. In the light of such a short time, the startup was a big success for all of us. This cooperation will continue and I am convinced we will continue production with a very good paper quality," says Lütfi Aydin, paper mill director at the Hayat Kimya mill.

Metso's supplied a complete tissue production line, including a stock preparation system and an Advantage DCT 200 TS tissue machine. The tissue machine is equipped with an OptiFlo headbox, a Metso yankee cylinder, an Advantage AirCap hood adapted for co-generation, an Advantage WetDust dust system, an Advantage Run sheet transfer system, and an Advantage SoftReel L reel. The stock preparation line contains OptiSlush pulpers, OptiFiner conical refiners, and OptiScreen machine screens. The delivery also included an automation package with metsoDNA machine and process controls, a PaperIQ Plus scanner, and quality controls.

With a width of 5.6 m and a design speed of 2,200 m/min, the new line has a design capacity of 70,000 metric tpy of facial, toilet, and towel grades. Raw material for the new line is virgin fiber. The production line is optimized to save energy and to enhance final product quality.

Hayat Kimya A.S. is part of the Hayat Group, which operates primarily in the chemicals, hygienic products, paper, and wood-based industries. The Hayat tissue facilities have a paper production capacity of 135,000 metric tpy and a converting capacity of 60,000 metric tpy.

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Hayat Kimya reports that its TM 1 machine at the Kocaeli plant in Turkey achieved a new annual production record in 2010, with more than 70.000 metric tons of tissue paper at the pope reel. TM 1 (reel trim = 5,500 mm and yankee operating speed = 2,000 m/min) has been in production for 353 days, meaning a machine availability almost 97%.

The TM 1 machine and production line was supplied by PMT Italia (Italy).

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Tissue Machine No. 3 (TM 3) at Hadera-Israel, belonging to Hogla Kimberly-Clark, will be modernized by PMT Italia (Italy) with a new frame design and a new cast iron yankee dryer. The tissue machine is producing bath, towel, and facial paper using recycled and virgin fibers.

Hogla Kimberly-Clark is the largest marketer of non-food, disposable consumer products in Israel.The company is a joint-venture between the international Kimberly-Clark Group (50.1%) and the Hadera Paper Group (49.9%). It manufactures and markets a broad range of household products. Hogla Kimberly-Clark provides a wide variety of paper products and hygiene devices to the institutional market, including paper towels, toilet paper, and napkins as well as parent company Kimberly Clark's Kleen Guard series of safety products.

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Holmen, Stockholm, Sweden, reported this week that it has decided on the date for closure of the smaller paper machine, PM 61, at the company's mill in Madrid, Spain. Production will cease on March 31. The closure was announced in conjunction with the year-end report.

PM 61 has a capacity of 170 000 metric tpy. This equates to almost 10% of the business area's production capacity. The paper machine produces coated magazine paper (LWC) as well as improved newsprint to a lesser extent. Approximately 170 employees will be affected.

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Jeesr Industries, Morocco, has ordered a complete new tissue production line from Metso, Finland, for its mill in Berrechid, close to Casablanca. The line is scheduled to startup in the fourth quarter of 2012. The value of the order will not be disclosed. However, according to Metso, the market value of a tissue production line of this type is in the range of EUR 15–20 million, depending on the scope of the delivery and the production output.

Metso's delivery will include a complete production line with stock preparation equipment, a tissue machine, a rewinder, and wrapping equipment. The production line will be optimized to produce top-quality tissue paper at low energy and water consumption levels. The delivery will also comprise an extensive automation package including machine, process and integrated drive controls, and a quality control system.

The new production line will produce about 30,000 metric tpy of high-quality facial, toilet, and towel grades. The raw material for the new line will be virgin pulp.

Jeesr Industries, a privately owned company, is part of the Novatis Group, a producer and supplier of various consumer goods, among others baby diapers, for the Moroccon market.

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For the third consecutive year, Kimberly-Clark Corp., Dallas, Texas, USA, has been recognized as one of the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" by Corporate Responsibility magazine. Kimberly-Clark ranked eighth in the 2011 listing, making it the top-rated non-food consumer products company on the magazine's list.

"Kimberly-Clark is proud to be named among the leading corporate citizens," said Suhas Apte, VP of Global Sustainability at Kimberly-Clark. "Receiving this citation for the third consecutive year underscores our ongoing corporate commitment to sustainability and recognizes the exceptional efforts of our employees worldwide."

The 100 Best Corporate Citizens list was first published in 1999 in Business Ethics magazine, and has been managed by Corporate Responsibility magazine since 2007. The list's open and transparent methodology is governed by a Methodology Committee of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association (CROA).

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SCA Hygiene Products, Sweden, producer of tissue products and packaging materials, has commissioned the building of an anaerobic wastewater treatment plant at its Ortmann, Austria, site. The Ortmann mill makes toilet paper, serviettes, and pocket tissues of brands such as Zewa, Cosy, and Tork from pulp and recycled paper. The order for the anaerobic water treatment went to Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS), Francde.

The VWS subsidiary Veolia Water Systems Austria is building the plant in close cooperation with the wastewater specialists of Aquantis in Germany, which also is a VWS company. Aquantis is essentially handling the overall planning of the anaerobic stage according to the BIOBED® EGSB reactor system. The plant is designed for a maximum CSB load of 16,000 kg/d and a wastewater quantity of up to 8,000 m³/d.

The BIOBED reactor generates energy-rich biogas from wastewater with high organic loads, such as in the paper industry.

The commissioned anaerobic wastewater treatment is due to go into operation in August of this year and will significantly ease the workload of the existing aerobic wastewater treatment plant. The core of the planned plant is an 850 m3BIOBED reactor in which the anaerobic pre-treatment is carried out. The energy-rich biogas arising from the process will, after cleaning and drying, be fed with the aid of a compressor to the works gas turbine to generate its own electricity and steam.

The Ortmann works of SCA is located in the Piesting Valley in Lower Austria. The SCA production site is a key member of the Wastewater Association of the Upper Piesting Valley and the largest discharger into the local sewage plant. To safeguard the plant's cleaning efficiency, including in the case of foreseen future greater waste paper inputs and increased production quantities, the management of SCA Hygiene Tissue decided to build the anaerobic partial current cleaning before the intake of the existing aerobic biology.

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Weyerhaeuser Co., Federal Way, Wash., USA, was named the world's most admired forest and paper products company in a study published in the March 21 edition of FORTUNE magazine. Weyerhaeuser earned the top ranking in its industry for innovation, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, long-term investment, and quality of products/services. In addition, Weyerhaeuser tied for tenth for social responsibility overall among all companies.

"This distinction among our peers testifies to our commitment to responsible governance, reliable systems, and a focus on long-term prosperity," said Dan Fulton, president and CEO. "We are honored to be rated among the world's top companies and our employees take great pride in this recognition."

To compile the list, FORTUNE and its partner, The Hay Group, surveyed some 15,000 senior executives, outside directors, and other major non-U.S. companies and financial analysts. Those surveyed rated companies on innovation, people management, use of corporate assets, social responsibility, quality of management, financial soundness, long-term investment, and quality of products/services.

Last week, Weyerhaeuser also learned it was included in Corporate Responsibility magazine's 100 Best Corporate Citizens List for 2011 and awarded the Sustainable Asset Management 2011 Bronze Class distinction for corporate sustainability performance in "The Sustainability Yearbook 2011."

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China Shengda Packaging Group Inc., Hangzhou, China, this week reported that it will purchase land use rights for a 166,533 m2 plot of land in Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China for $11.4 million, on which to build a new mill that will produce packaging grades of paperboard and containerboard. The company plans to build the new facility in two phases.

Phase I, expected to be completed by the end of 2011, will provide a production of capacity of 100,000 - 150,000 metric tpy of packaging boards and will cost an estimated $34.2 million to construct, including the cost of acquiring the land use rights. Phase II, expected to be completed by the end of 2012, will provide an additional 100,000 - 150,000 metric tpy of capacity and will cost an estimated $18.2 million. The company plans to fund the purchase of the land use rights and construction of the new plant through the proceeds received from its recently closed equity financing and internal cash generation.

"We had initially explored opportunities to acquire a paper manufacturing company with an annual capacity of 250,000 to 300,000 metric tpy to achieve vertical integration of our production process," said Daliang Teng, CEO of China Shengda Packaging. "However, given the increase in valuations among potential targets and the level of proceeds from the company's recent equity raise, we concluded it would be more cost effective for the company and our shareholders to build a new plant to fulfill our strategic objectives.

"By integrating upstream through the construction of a paper manufacturing plant, we believe we will be able to better manage our raw material costs and, more importantly, extend our product improvement and development capability to the raw paper production level. We currently purchase raw paper from our PRC suppliers. As raw paper constitutes approximately 70% of our cost of goods sold, we expect that this vertical integration will enable us to more effectively manage our production costs and control the supply and the quality of our raw materials.

"Upon completion of this new factory, we will start our value chain as early as papermaking and all the way through to producing corrugated cartons and providing packaging solutions to our customers. We believe that by streamlining our production process in this way we will enjoy cost benefits as well as be able to offer our customers more innovative, customized, and high quality packaging solutions," Teng explained.

The corrugated paper packaging market in China is highly fragmented, Teng noted. There are approximately 20,000 players in China with the top 10 accounting for less than 10% market share. Vertical integration is expected to be a future trend in China's paper packaging industry.

China Shengda Packaging Group is principally engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale of flexo-printed and color-printed corrugated paper cartons in a variety of sizes and strengths. It also manufactures corrugated paperboards, which are used for the production of its flexo-printed and color-printed cartons.

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Fujian Liansheng Paper Co., Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province, China, has successfully started up its Metso (Finland) supplied containerboard machine, PM 3, which produces fluting within the basis weight range of 80 – 120 gsm. The annual production capacity of the 6.4-m-wide (wire) machine is around 300,000 metric tons and the design speed is 1,100 m/min. The production line was started up with a Metso wet end machine clothing package.

Fujian Liansheng Paper started paper production in 1999. The company established the Zhangzhou mill site in 2006. In 2010, Liansheng Paper Industry (Longhai) Co., a subsidiary of Fujian Liansheng Paper, ordered two 7.25-m-wide containerboard machines from Metso for its mill in Longhai City, Fujian Province in China.

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Sonoco, Hartsville, S.C., USA, has been ranked number 61 on Corporate Responsibility (CR) magazine's recently released twelfth annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List 2011. The Ranking documents more than 320 data points of disclosure—harvested from publicly available information in seven categories: environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights, governance, finance, and philanthropy. Sonoco received its highest rankings in the Environment, Human Rights, and Employee Relations categories.

"It is a real honor to be included on this important list again this year," said Harris E. DeLoach Jr., Sonoco chairman and CEO. "For more than 100 years, Sonoco has worked hard to be a good corporate citizen. Recognition like this proves that our commitment to transparency, sustainability, our employees, and community outreach is the right thing to do and good business."

Overall performance improved among the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by some 5% in 2010 over 2009, and three-year average returns to shareholders of the companies included on the 100 Best Corporate Citizen List 2011 outpaced the S&P average by more than 4%.

Founded in 1899, Sonoco is a $4.1 billion global manufacturer of industrial and consumer products and a provider of packaging services, with about 300 operations in 35 countries serving customers in some 85 nations.

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Xerium Technologies, Raleigh, N.C., USA, a manufacturer of industrial textiles and rolls used primarily in the paper production process, this week announced full commercial availability of a technologically advanced new series of roll cover products designed for improved machine performance, better wear, and longer, more efficient product life. The latest range of roll cover products are designed to reduce operating costs and maximize the output of existing equipment while enhancing product customization capabilities for each individual customer.

Developed by Stowe Woodward's global research and product engineering team, the latest family of roll cover products from Xerium include: ·

• Quantum R and Aquarius R high performance polyurethane covers incorporate high release additives. Combined with Stowe Woodward's SMART Technology, Quantum R and Aquarius R provide on-the-run nip profile data for maximum papermaking efficiency. Designed for paper machine pressing applications, Quantum R provides superior release performance in soft press, smoothing press, and calendar positions, the company notes. The surface properties of Quantum R can release the sheet when other polyurethane or high release rubber covers may fail. Aquarius R provides a cover release surface for lumpbreakers and other extra soft sheet release cover applications. ·
• Embrace polyurethane roll covers provide high performance in tissue embossing, paper converting, laminating, film, textile, and other industrial applications. The cool-running, high-strength cover will run in the toughest high speed applications, Xerium points out. When additional insurance is required against abuse and failure, Embrace can be supplied with Stowe Woodward's Lifegard bonding system.

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Jujo Thermal Ltd. Kauttua, Finland, reports that it will increase prices for its thermal paper and coated one-side label paper products by 5% - 7 %, effective April 1 for worldwide deliveries. The company attribute the increases to "continued significant cost pressure on papermaking raw materials and energy."

Specific details relating to the increase will be discussed individually by area managers in the near future, the company added.

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Sonoco, Hartsville, S.C., USA, this week announced that it will implement a surcharge on shipments of its paper-based tubes and cores beginning April 4. The fee is a direct result of escalating diesel costs, which have increased more than 40% over the past 12 months, Sonoco said.

Sonoco will apply the surcharge as a flat rate to all customers except those who have diesel-related provisions in their contracts. This fee, which will be based upon the shipping distance from Sonoco's manufacturing plant to the customer destination, will be evaluated quarterly and adjusted when a significant swing in diesel pricing occurs. The initial surcharge fee (per shipment) schedule is: ·

• Less than 50 mile = $50 ·
• 50 to 149 miles = $150 ·
• 150 to 249 miles = $250 ·
• 250 miles or more = $300.

"While we have taken action to reduce our expenses, the high cost of diesel has simply forced our hand. We are now at a point where we have no choice but to implement this surcharge," said James Harrell, division VP of Sonoco's Industrial Carriers Division. "Sonoco is committed to eliminating this surcharge once the market stabilizes and diesel prices return to our baseline price."

Sonoco established a baseline diesel price of $3.38 per gal in July 2008 when market prices for the fuel significantly increased. A surcharge applied at the time was eliminated in early 2009 when diesel prices fell below the baseline for three consecutive months.

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KiOR, Inc., Pasadena, Texas, USA, this week signed an off-take agreement with Hunt Refining Co., which has agreed to purchase renewable gasoline and diesel blendstocks and fuel oil produced at KiOR's first commercial facility to be located in Columbus, Miss. In addition to the off-take of renewable fuel blendstocks, the two companies have agreed to collaborate on information and resources aimed at optimizing the performance of their products and services. The agreement requires the parties mutually to determine fuel product specifications and contains other terms and conditions.

"Today's announcement is an important milestone for the development of our commercial facilities in Mississippi, and furthers KiOR's progress towards the commercialization of gasoline and diesel blendstocks from renewable crude," said Fred Cannon, president and CEO of KiOR. "We're excited to partner with Hunt to bring our renewable fuels to market and begin reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil while creating quality jobs and economic development throughout the State of Mississippi."

Shanmuk Sharma, president of Hunt Refining Co., noted that "the off-take of KiOR's renewable gasoline and diesel blendstocks will help us to meet the needs of the nation's Renewable Fuel Standard. We're excited to be working alongside KiOR to help make a meaningful and near-term contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing a boost to rural economies."

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UPM, Helsinki, Finland, in cooperation with TuuliSaimaa Oy, Lappeenranta, Finland, has established a wind power development company VentusVis Oy. In the starting phase, the operations focus on developing land areas, which are leased from UPM, for wind power production. The development work includes evaluation of the land suitability, permitting process and preparation for possible wind power construction projects, and wind power production.

"UPM's land assets in Finland include several areas that could be suitable for wind power production. Our target is to study the circumstances in more detail and develop the areas that are suitable for wind power production," said Anja Silvennoinen, SVP for UPM Energy Business Area.

"For TuuliSaimaa, VentusVis provides an opportunity to proceed toward its targets and strengthens the company's position and know-how. TuuliSaimaa brings to the cooperation the operative management and wind power expertise. We are currently looking for new people to join our team," added Petteri Laaksonen, managing director of VentusVis, who also continues as the managing director of TuuliSaimaa.

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Glatfelter, York, Pa., USA, announced that George H. Glatfelter II will resign as chairman, effective at the company's 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders on May 4, and will not stand for re-election to the board in May. This action is part of the company's previously announced leadership succession plan.

The company's board of directors unanimously elected Dante C. Parrini as Glatfelter's successor as chairman, effective immediately following the May 4 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, assuming he is reelected as a director of the company at that time.

"On behalf of my fellow directors, I wish to thank George for his many and significant contributions to Glatfelter during his 11-year tenure as chairman and 34 years with the company. He has set a high standard for all of us, as we continue to create increasing value for our shareholders," said Lee C. Stewart, chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. "While we will certainly miss George's unique insight into the industry, the board has the utmost confidence in Dante's ability to lead the company into this new era of sustained growth."

Parrini succeeded Glatfelter as president and CEO on December 31.

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The Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, has appointed Meg Whitman to its board of directors. Whitman, a candidate for governor of California in the 2010 elections, first served on the P&G board from 2003 to 2008.

"Meg was an outstanding director during her initial time on the board and we are delighted to be able to welcome her back," said Robert A. McDonald, P&G chairman of the board, president, and CEO. "Her business knowledge, vision and passion for winning are qualities that will serve the board and P&G well in the years ahead."

Whitman graduated from Princeton with a degree in economics and received her MBA from Harvard Business School. Her first job was as a brand assistant at P&G and she moved to Bain and Company in 1981 where she worked for eight years reaching the level of VP. She then joined the Walt Disney Co. as SVP of marketing and in 1992 accepted a senior position at StrideRite. She held executive positions at Florists' Transworld Delivery and Hasboro before taking the position of president and CEO at eBay in 1998.

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Registration is now open for the Recycled Paperboard Technical Association's annual Production-Technical Seminar. This year's event will be held in conjunction with TAPPI PaperCon on May 2-3, 2011 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, KY.

This year's program will include sessions on Regulatory Compliance (EPA, FDA, OSHA), Sustainability, Mill Safety and Mill Technology.

Among the topics being presented, attendees will learn the do's and don'ts of handling a visit from an OSHA inspector being presented by David Sarvadi, Partner with Keller and Heckman, LLC

Attendees will also gain an understanding of the basic framework governing food packaging in the United States and potential changes on the horizon being presented by Deborah White, Executive Director of RPTA. Her presentation will also explain how the RPTA Food Safety Protocol allows recycled fiber product manufacturers to evaluate the status of their products under U.S. law and provide a basis for claims about FDA status to their customers. Changes on the horizon in the European Union and the US states will also be considered.

On the production side, attendees will learn about future trends in fiber supplies and what the future holds for recycled fiber grades as well as a number of presentations focused on improving productivity such as using the newest break detection technology to locate and fix breaks quickly. To view the RPTA seminar agenda in its entirety visit www.rpta.org.

RPTA's sessions are open to RPTA members as well as registrants of TAPPI PaperCon. RPTA members can register at www.rpta.org or on the RPTA link at www.papercon.org.

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The Technical Program has been announced for the 2011 TAPPI Corrugated Symposium on Trends, Technology, and Management Issues in Box Plants Worldwide, 7 April 2011 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China. The TAPPI one-day technical symposium will be held in conjunction with the SinoCorrugated Show, 6-9 April 2011.

Learn from international speakers as they discuss market trends, technology and management issues in box plants worldwide.

• Dr. Graham Moore, Strategic Consultant, Pira International Ltd., will give an overview of the global containerboard packaging sector from the perspective of manufacturing and end use application sectors
• Tom Pearce, President, Pearce Corrugated Consulting, will share the principles to managing a successful box plant and how to identify the gaps in production management
• Pankaj Shah, Director, Supack International, will provide a historical look at the use of corrugated materials as well a look into what future innovations in store
• Davide R. Friedman, President Fibre Tech Packaging Solutions, LLC, will discuss the traditional relationship between the boxmaker and the end user, exploring ways to optimize that relationship from a holistic point of view
• Daniel M Brunton, Managing Director, Brunton Business Publications Ltd, will moderate a panel discussion of international corrugated issues

Learn more at www.tappi.org/11sino.

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Attend the 2011 TAPPI PLACE Flexible Packaging Symposium, April 5, 2011 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida USA for a comprehensive, state-of-the-art overview of the latest biopolymer materials, additives, processing technology, applications, environmental aspects and market trends. This is your opportunity to experience a real-time dialogue with industry experts and colleagues about the collective sustainability challenge.

By participating in this Symposium, you will learn:

• how to integrate sustainable practices throughout your manufacturing process
• best practices for successfully and cost-effectively extruding biopolymers
• how to progressively achieve your sustainability goals.

At the end of this symposium you will understand the latest developments in renewable source resins, films and structures, and be able to employ sustainable flexible packaging practices for resource efficiency.

Register by March 21 for the best rates! Learn more at www.tappi.org/11PLACE.

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The Technical Program has been announced for the 13th TAPPI European PLACE Conference, 30 May to 1 June 2011 at the Festspiel- und Kongresshaus in Bregenz, Austria.

You won't want to miss this exciting event that includes 18 sessions, a Table Top Walk, an Innovation Counter and a Poster Session.

View the Program and start planning how best to use your time in Bregenz. 

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Recognizing all that he had received from the members who joined before him, Ian Journeaux, Ph.D., became a TAPPI member nearly 25 years ago to help "pay it forward." He says it was the ease of seeking out and engaging colleagues and peers that convinced him of the value of TAPPI membership, and what it might mean to a new generation of engineering stars.

Currently a Process Technology Manager with NewPage Corporation, he oversees process optimization, process troubleshooting and new technology evaluation. Ian says that TAPPI members were always a go-to resource when there were pressing problems to solve, and remain so to this day. He considers membership one of the most important investments that industry professionals can make in their careers – no matter what stage they are in. Find out the reasons why by reading this month's Member Spotlight.

Spotlight participants are recommended by fellow members and staff. If you would like to nominate a member (or even yourself!) just send their name (or names) to MemberSpotlight@tappi.org. We will forward a Spotlight Questionnaire to fill out and return.

We look forward to seeing you in the Spotlight!

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The deadline to submit an extended abstract for the 2011 International Pulp Bleaching Conference has been extended. Authors interested in presenting a paper should upload their extended abstract to TAPPI's Speaker Management System by April 15, 2011. Abstracts should be 1-2 pages in length.

Authors will be notified of acceptance by April 29, 2011 and must provide a full text manuscript by July 15, 2011. This event provides you with a unique opportunity to hear from researchers and operations specialists from around the world. Unlike other conferences with multiple tracts, this conference is very focused, and there are no competing sessions. Adequate time is allocated for questions and the exchange of further information. The format allows ample networking opportunities for attendees to have one-on-one exchanges with the presenters and other conference attendees in a relaxed atmosphere.

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