Recent Articles

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Loss from continuing operations of $12 million

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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