http://www.risiinfo.com/blogsThe leading information provider for the global forest products industryen-usRISI2009-01-06T07:28:26-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Biomass-help-for-Georgia.html?source=rssEven though the state of Georgia has experienced unsurpassed growth in population, economic activity and energy demand the state has not developed its renewable resources. However, by developing the renewable-energy industry in Georgia, particularly biomass resources, there is sure to be a steady supply of cost-effective energy and a market for skilled workers —- both of which is expected to bolster Georgia’s economy in years to come.Biomass help for GeorgiaFelicia Willis, Associate Editor, Pulp & Paper magazine, RISI2009-01-05T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/palm-paper-moves-ahead-at-kings-lynn.html?source=rssLesson one in a difficult economy: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer … and work to keep all of them happy. But above all, don’t stop working. This contemporary interpretation, with apologies to Sun-tzu, apparently has not been lost on Dr Wolfgang Palm, owner of German paper maker Papierfabrik Palm.Palm Paper moves ahead at King’s LynnKenneth Norris, Deputy Editor, IFPTA Journal2008-12-31T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/outlook-for-2009-is-bleak.html?source=rssI just finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s latest book, The Road, so I have a very good idea about what “bleak” means. The outlook for the world pulp and paper market is not quite as bleak as life in the nuclear winter portrayed in The Road, but the next several months will be far from a happy time. Some solace can perhaps be taken by the fact that virtually all industrial sectors will be feeling the same sort of pain.Outlook for 2009 is bleakRod Young, Chairman, RISI2008-12-30T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/have-we-learned-from-history.html?source=rssRecently, I was watching that Christmas classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, by the Peanuts cartoon strip creator, the late Charles Schulz. Near the beginning of the show, one of the wise-beyond-his-years characters empathizes with Charlie and bemoans the commercialization of Christmas. Now, for those of you who celebrate Christmas, complaining about the commercialization of this sacred holiday is so ingrained, it’s almost like complaining about politicians or the weather.Have we learned from history?Graeme Rodden, Editor, Pulp & Paper magazine, RISI2008-12-29T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/forecasting-transpoprt-in-2009.html?source=rssLooking ahead to next year, the forest products logistics industry will certainly face some difficult challenges in the current economic storm, but it might also find a few silver linings in and around the clouds.Forecasting Transport in 2009Kenneth Norris, Deputy Editor, IFPTA Journal2008-12-26T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/The-global-slowdown-hits-paper-and-packaging-demand-in-Latin-America.html?source=rssAcross much of Latin America, the past few years have seen strong aggregate demand growth, relatively low interest rates, better controlled inflation and direct foreign investment flowing into the region. While many of these improvements were driven purely by local developments, the strong international economic climate over this period certainly played an important role as well, especially strong global prices for Latin America's raw material exports. So, although the international economic downturn is not likely to affect the region's economies as severely as has historically happened, the reduction of credit availability and falling commodities prices will expose significant Latin American economic weakness in 2009. The global slowdown hits paper and packaging demand in Latin AmericaPatricia Perez, Research Analyst, RISI2008-12-25T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Oversupply-downtime-fire-sales-no-happy-holidays-for-reeling-pulp-industry.html?source=rssAll market pulp producers want for the holidays is this enormous wall of pulp to disappear, but it won't happen anytime soon now that the industry was greeted with more bad news. Global inventories have now risen six consecutive months and mills ended November like Santa's bag of toys on Christmas Eve: overstuffed.Oversupply, downtime, fire sales -- no happy holidays for reeling pulp industryBryan Smith, Senior News Editor, Pulp & Paper Week, RISI2008-12-24T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/is-latin-america-free-from-global-turndown.html?source=rssIn late November, I left my current tasks at RISI's São Paulo office to spend some weeks visiting box plants and paper mills in Mexico as well as attending the Latin America Graphic Industry Conference (Conlatingraf) which brought together graphic paper producers and suppliers to discuss the sector's perspectives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event's main topic was the US financial crisis and its effects on the local sector.Is Latin America free from global downturn?Fernanda Belchior, Assistant Editor, PPI Latin America, RISI2008-12-23T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/blog-How-much-will-coated-mechanical-paper-prices-come-down-in-2009-as-a-result-of-the-current-collapse-in-the-market.html?source=rssMost of the discussion in the coated paper markets these days seems to gravitate toward the prospect of sliding prices. Everybody wants to know how much prices are likely to decline in 2009 so that they can make informed decisions on pricing contracts and whether or not to lock in prices, and at what level. Nobody can know for sure exactly where prices will end up in 2009, but we can make a reasonable forecast based on assumptions for the primary drivers. How much will coated mechanical paper prices come down in 2009 as a result of the current collapse in the market?John Maine, Vice President, World Graphic Papers, RISI2008-12-19T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Update-on-Atlantic-region-woodchip-trade-blog.html?source=rssDue in large part to the current financial/economic crisis, 2009 will see major changes in the international pulpwood trade, but 2008 has already been an important “change” year for the Atlantic woodchip and biomass trade. We will look ahead at 2009 in our upcoming (February) annual study on the International Pulpwood Trade, and there will be lots of stories to spin. In the fourth quarter we’re already seeing a dramatic slow-down in woodchip demand from Japan, where major pulp and paper producers have recently announced extended curtailments. In China, new pulp projects which were to have started importing large volumes of woodchips as early as mid-2009 have been delayed for at least a year. The ocean freight market has been turned totally on its head, important changes are occurring on the supply side in countries like Australia, South Africa, and Vietnam, and the theme of the Pacific Rim woodchip market in 2009 we already know for certain will be …..“uncertainty.”Update on Atlantic region woodchip tradeBob Flynn, Director, International Timber, RISI2008-12-18T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/a-punch-up-in-the-woods.html?source=rss It looks as though we could be heading for a clash of the titans in the world of forestry as one organization after the other are trying to get in on orchestrating and implementing worldwide deforestation and sustainability systems and processes. Add to this the fact that big business is now actively looking to acquire vast tracts of forest for the purposes of carbon offsetting and future investment, and you have quite an interesting little party going on down the woods today. A Punch Up in the WoodsMark Rushton, Editor, PPI magazine, RISI2008-12-17T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Then-again.html?source=rssIn the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it's like "déjà vu all over again." Looking at Felicia Willis' Growth Rings column in the December issue of Pulp & Paper, and a blog earlier this month, you can see that 45 years ago people in this industry were remarkably prescient in predicting what we would see in what was then the future.Then againGraeme Rodden, Editor, Pulp & Paper magazine, RISI2008-12-16T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/on-the-trail-of-the-carbon-footprint.html?source=rssThe rise of the carbon footprint as a means of benchmarking the greenhouse gas emissions of both businesses and consumers has been rapid and seemingly unstoppable. And, as a timely 'mini-summit' organised by CEPI during the recent European Paper Week in Brussels showed, the debate is now moving from the hype phase to a more realistic assessment of the use and limitations of carbon footprinting. On the trail of the carbon footprintJustin Toland, Contributing Editor, PPI magazine2008-12-15T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Enter-the-beetle.html?source=rssYou may be wondering what does a beetle have to do with the paper industry? Well, in the case of the Cyphochilus beetle found in Southeast Asia, it could make quite an impact, if some research in the areas of natural photonics and biomimetics proves fruitful.Enter the beetleJoanne Potter, Editorial Director, International News, RISI2008-12-12T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Blog-Are-pulp-prices-finding-a-bottom-in-China.html?source=rssThe last six months have seen one of the largest and swiftest declines in economic and financial conditions in the past century. This collapse in confidence, which is largely what it is, will be the subject of studies by economists for years to come (as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has spent much of his professional life studying the Great Depression). Key questions to answer will include: where did the collapse on the real side of the economy begin, and when, and of course why? As we look at the high frequency data available to us, including prices of commodities and services such as shipping, a key suspect at this point is China.Are pulp prices finding a bottom in China?Kurt Schaefer, Vice President, Fiber, RISI2008-12-11T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/the-forest-natures-own-medicine-for-the-climate.html?source=rssWe now have more forest in Sweden than we've had for the past three centuries. More than 70% of the forest is now certified in accordance with PEFC or FSC, and that figure is rising. The forest industry as a whole is also putting up a united front to support the environmental objective of exempting 900,000 hectares from forestry. The government bill shows a potential growth increase of 25 – 50% nearly all in existing forest. The "Focus on Forestry" project (a project being run by forest-owner associations in Sweden in 2007-2010) shows that following the model farm alone would boost growth by at least 20%, while the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry has verified that a 50% increase would be possible.The forest – nature's own medicine for climate changeLeif Brodén, CEO, Södra2008-12-10T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Blog-How-much-wood-in-Green-Energy-stimulus-The-100-million-ton-challenge.html?source=rssWoodfiber will clearly play a major role in new green energy spending in the US - it already does. But just how big, where and when?How much wood in "Green Energy" stimulus? The 100 million ton challengeChris Lyddan, Editor, International Woodfiber Report, RISI2008-12-09T00:00:00-05:00http://www.risiinfo.com/blogs/Blog-Far-out-thinking-of-things-to-come.html?source=rssI have mentioned previously my interest of The Jetson’s cartoon when I was a child. I was the star gazing type as a kid, and dreamed about how technology would allow me to take an afternoon shopping trip to Saturn (which for some reason seemed to be the most fashionable planet – must be the rings); take a week-long vacation to Tahiti without even leaving my living room (à la the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Total Recall); and some how be able to appear and disappear in the form of a hologram, just as Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise crew managed to do in the Star Trek series. To my complete and utter surprise and delight, CNN accomplished this recently during the presidential election returns using camera tricks.“Far out” thinking of things to comeFelicia Willis, Associate Editor, Pulp & Paper magazine, RISI2008-12-08T00:00:00-05:00