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The PM40 closed Friday, 31 July 2026, at 5483.

Get the latest PM40 updates by listening to the weekly Nips show and the PM40 Daily Show on Pulp & Paper Radio International.

The PM40 closed 31 July 2026 up 7.1% from the 1 August 2025 level.

In this issue of Disconnected Comparisons, we evaluate Ennis, Inc and Universal Forest Products.

The Trump Administration's executive orders cut across dozens of industries. This searchable tool breaks down the orders and their impact.

When we developed the PM40 stock index in 2004, we normalized its opening to 1,000. It has recently clocked in at 5,200, although it has been as high as 6,000 a year and a half ago. This works out to a CAGR of 7.6% per year to date. Not too shabby. Have you beat this?

Commissioning is planned for November 2028.

The transaction is expected to further strengthen ABB's focus on electrification and automation and expand its Automation business area's offering for large and complex infrastructure and industries.

Pia Aaltonen-Forsell joins Valmet from the role of Chief Financial Officer at Finnair.

With this project, Palm is responding to the structural decline in demand for newsprint.

A continued project for energy saving

The Board of Directors of Valmet Oyj has decided to initiate a strategic review to evaluate a potential separation of its two core businesses, Biomaterial Solutions and Services, and Process Performance Solutions, into two standalone publicly listed companies. The review will focus on assessing whether a separation of the two businesses and their operation as separately listed companies on Nasdaq Helsinki would create additional value for shareholders compared with the current combined structure.

On July 20, 2026, LP Building Solutions celebrates its 54th birthday--a milestone that reflects more than five decades of innovation, resilience, and leadership in the building products industry. Since our incorporation on July 20, 1972, LP has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of builders, remodelers, contractors, and homeowners while helping shape the future of home construction.

Clearwater Paper Corporation has announced the launch of Circa™ paperboard, a new line of coated recycled board (CRB) for folding carton and carrier applications in the United States, developed through a strategic collaboration with Greenpaper, a global producer of 100% recycled fiber paperboard.

75 Domtar employees across North America are collectively putting $150,000 into the hands of local community organizations and funding projects in which they are personally engaged.

2Q26 Net sales of $2.5 billion, up 10.9%

Weyerhaeuser reported second-quarter net earnings of $162 million, or $0.23 per share, versus $87 million a year earlier.

Higher lumber prices improved second-quarter operations, while weak pulp demand, elevated inventories and lower pricing increased losses and contributed to mill closures.

Net loss of $21 million, or $1.33 per diluted share versus net income of $3 million, or $0.17 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2025

Net income increased 156.7% to $78.8 million or $1.37 per diluted Class A share compared to net income of $30.7 million or $0.53 per diluted Class A share.

Loss from continuing operations of $12 million

Mondi said it will continue its cost discipline strategy, while focusing on optimizing its converting plant network, planning four further closures in Germany, Poland, Türkiye and Hungary.

Sales increased 14.7% year over year to $2.49 billion and surpassed the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion by 3.6%.

Net Income of $88 million, with a Net Income Margin of 1.1%

Second quarter 2026 net sales of $1.9 billion were down (1.3)% compared to the corresponding prior-year quarter, driven primarily by the November 3, 2025 divestiture of the ThermoSafe business.

Sales remained stable at EUR 2,423 (2,426) million, as the positive impact from structural changes was offset by lower prices and adverse currency movements.

UFP Industries reported second-quarter 2026 net sales of $1.88 billion, up 3% from $1.84 billion a year earlier, driven by 1% organic unit growth and a 2% contribution from acquisitions.

The tariffs apply to a wide variety of products, ranging from raw agricultural and natural materials to chemicals, textiles, consumer goods, wood products, paper, machinery and tools.

The Board approved a plan to demerge the Plywood business into a new listed company.

West Fraser expects housing affordability challenges, mortgage rates, inflation, tariffs and consumer confidence to continue influencing demand for wood building products in 2026 while maintaining its shipment outlook. The company reported improved market conditions across most business segments during the second quarter, with stronger European markets and continued operational improvements in North America.

The DOJ filed a consent decree with the proposed settlement Friday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Arkansas Division of Environmental Quality. The decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period. If approved by the court, the decree would go into effect immediately.

The companies reached a mutual agreement on a patent dispute. Borregaard has been granted a contractual license which includes GranBio's European Patent EP/NO 3089998, pertaining to sulfite-based nanocellulose production.

OSHA announced its proposed penalties against Woodland Pulp for a January gas leak and March chemical fire.

Sonoco Products Company, a global leader in high-value sustainable metal and paper packaging, announced continued investment to expand its Wood Reels manufacturing and assembly footprint to meet a surge in demand for power and communications cable packaging driven by AI data center growth and power grid modernization.

Multi-year investment will support relief, recovery and long-term resilience across the community where the company was founded more than 150 years ago./span>

Saica Group is very pleased to announce that the EU Commission has approved the acquisition of Thimm Group plants in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Romania as of 24 July 2026. That includes all activities in these four countries: nine corrugated board plants in Alzey (Germany), Wolnzach (Germany), Eberswalde (Germany), Castrop-Rauxel (Germany), Northeim (Germany), Tychy (Poland), Skarbimierz (Poland), Všetaty (Czech Republic) and Sibiu (Romania) and one preprint facility in Ilsenburg (Germany).

Dunapack Packaging Hellas, part of the Austrian Prinzhorn Group, has entered into an agreement to take over El Pack's corrugated packaging operations. The transaction comprises the sites in Patras, Kapandriti and Thiva in Greece. With around 250 employees, a turnover of approximately 43 million euros was achieved in 2025.

At least 35 people are known to have died after the violent earthquake that struck Kumamoto on July 28, 2026.

The company ships most of its products internationally, with 93% of its sales going to Asian markets, primarily China.

Memo says the operations will be moved from the company's current headquarters in Burnaby, B.C., to an office outside Atlanta.

Kimberly-Clark says it is developing a fiber with the promise to revolutionize paper-based products.

Smurfit Westrock and International Paper announced containerboard price increases days after PCA's, which is being called unprecedented. And boxboard producers announced increases for SBS and FBB.

Nippon Dynawave Packaging has informed employees they will continue to receive pay through Oct. 11 following the deadly white liquor tank implosion at the Longview, Washington, pulp and paper mill on May 26 that has idled operations. The company previously had agreed to fully pay workers through Aug. 8, and the new agreement "provides much-needed stability" while local, state and federal investigations into the incident continue, said the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers in a statement.

This is PCA's third announced containerboard increase in 2026 so far, and other top producers have previously announced similar increases at the same times. All of the companies' previous hikes this year had been for $50 to $70 per ton.

New details were revealed in a Nippon Dynawave Packaging report that was sent to the Washington Department of Ecology. The report explains how employees at the paper mill in Longview responded to a massive chemical spill.

The Austrian manufacturer Lenzing will phase out production at its fibre plants in Heiligenkreuz, Austria, by the end of 2026 and Grimsby, UK, by the end of 2027.

This month's editorial topic is corruption. Having corrupt employees can cost a business tons of money...

The decision reflects the ongoing challenges facing the operation including prolonged weak market conditions, persistent high US softwood lumber duties and tariffs, and fibre supply impacts due to recent wildfires and the conclusion of the mountain pine beetle management strategy.

The incident occurred at Essity's Prudhoe Mill in Northumberland at 9 p.m. on Friday (July 24), and was quickly contained by Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS).

No injuries to employees or fire personnel were reported.

The Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC) is disappointed by the announcement by Finch Paper, LLC that it will stop making its own pulp and therefore cease buying low-grade wood for that purpose. This is a significant loss for the region's logging and trucking industry with far reaching economic consequences as well as serious negative impacts on the ability to properly manage forest health.

According to a brief release issued by the company, six mill employees were injured Wednesday, July 22, during "routine maintenance at the Covington mill."

Fifty-four members of United Auto Workers Local 1024 Unit 1 walked off the job at 7 a.m. July 28 at the Novolex packaging equipment plant in Cedar Rapids, launching a strike that has drawn attention from labor advocates and elected officials across the Corridor.