ISSUE #0617
2017
JUNE
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CCTI EVENTS
2017 CCTI Fall Meeting will be held in Peoria, IL in October, please watch for more information, coming soon!

IN THIS ISSUE
  • CCTI NEWS
  • MEMBER NEWS
  • INDUSTRY NEWS
  • INTERNATIONAL 
  • LEGISLATIVE
  • ECONOMIC
  • SAFETY & HR
  • CLASSIFIED ADS
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CCTI Officers Announced at Annual Meeting
Meet Kevin Hayward,  President of Ox Industries 
Photo / Amy Spangler

Kevin Hayward is president of York County-based Ox Industries, which comprises three divisions: Ox Paperboard, Ox Engineered Products and the Hanover facilities of Ox Paper Tube and Core Inc


The CCTI Executive Committee and Board also includes:

Kevin Hayward, CCTI President

Lloyd Anderson, CCTI Senior Vice President

Dave Hooe, CCTI  Vice President

Mark Ellis, Treasurer
  Corenso North America

Stuart Seltman, CCTI Past President

Patrick Wallace, CCTI Past President

Mark Wallace
Ox Industries



Mike Mundia

Mark Beaman

Emil Kiss
Paco Winders

Marshall Hutcheson
Miami Valley Paper Tube Co.

Scott Stewart
Paper Tubes & Sales

George Ondiek

MEMBER NEWS
Cascades Added to the S&P/ TSX Composite Index

Cascades Inc. (TSX: CAS) is pleased to announce that S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC has confirmed that Cascades will be added to the S&P/TSX Composite Index effective June 19, 2017 . Cascades will also be added to the SP/TSX Composite Dividend Index.

Mario Plourde , President and CEO, commented: "Our addition to this leading Canadian equity benchmark index is positive recognition of the steps we have taken in recent years to strengthen our platform, to deliver long-term operational and financial improvements, and to provide our partners, investors, clients and employees with measurable and sustainable added value."

Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibres. The Company employs 11,000 employees, who work in close to 90 production units located in North America and Europe.  Cascades' shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol CAS.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Pulpwood Supply Outpaces Paper Demand but Costs Do Not Decrease

The world's paper usage rates have been falling for decades, with no end in sight - yet the production of wood pulp keeps rising, especially in emerging markets. These long-term trends should hold pulp prices down, but they're still climbing in some countries. These region-specific price drivers are explored in detail by the  World Pulpwood Study : Adapting to Emerging Competition and Slowing Growth in Paper Demand, a new report from RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry.

"Over the next decade, growing pulp output will put downward pressure on prices, but not in every country," said Peter Barynin, RISI Principal Economist for Timber and author of the World Pulpwood Study. "Exchange rates, shipping costs, and national trade policies will raise costs in some of the most important global markets."

Massive forest plantations in South America and Asia will be maturing in coming years, and their output will feed new pulp mills in these regions. This could put European and North American producers at a disadvantage. Combined with the decline in paper usage caused mainly by electronic media, there is potential for upheaval throughout the industry - but with greater impact on some countries than others.

"We believe there is still profitable growth to be found, if the industry looks more deeply at the conditions in each major market," said Barynin.

For more information, visit  www.risi.com/worldpulpwood
Sonoco Increases Prices on 
Uncoated Recycled Board

Sonoco Products (SON) announced that it was restating its previously announced URB (uncoated recycled board) price increase, effective July 10.

SON indicated that it felt the need to go back to the market with this previously announced price increase on account of: 1) the limited realization of the previously announced April increase and 2) rising raw material and other costs. Regarding the latter, SON noted that "June recovered paper prices significantly increased, and we expect further cost increases in July as demand by domestic and export users remains strong." 

U.S. OCC prices tend to follow OCC export prices to China. YTD export prices to China are up a substantial $65/tonne, while U.S. national average prices are up just $48/ton, so it appears as if domestic OCC prices have further room to run. Furthermore, RISI expects export prices to China to increase yet again this week.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Manufacturers See Better Economic Indicators

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After a busy few weeks of data, there was a bit of a breather on new economic indicators out last week. Of the reports that were released, one of the standouts was nonfarm  job openings, which exceeded 6 million for the first time ever. This was yet another sign that the labor market has improved significantly in recent months. 

Not surprisingly, with the U.S. economy approaching "full employment," many businesses cite challenges with attracting new talent as one of their top concerns. Postings in the manufacturing sector have also been elevated in recent months, including March's all-time high of 404,000. However, in April, the pace of job openings decelerated to 359,000, and net hiring weakened. Nonetheless, I would continue to expect stronger job openings and hiring data moving forward, especially given recent improvements in the economic outlook for the sector.

Business economists continue to expect modest growth in the U.S. economy, with real GDP up 2.2 percent and 2.4 percent in 2017 and 2018, respectively. With that said, nearly 60 percent of respondents in the latest National Association for Business Economics  Outlook Survey felt that there were more upside risks to the economy, especially given possible fiscal policy changes, with 36.2 percent feeling there were more downside risks. For manufacturers, economists see industrial production rising 1.5 percent in 2017, with 2.4 percent growth in 2018. On the other hand, light vehicle sales in 2017 are expected to slow somewhat while continuing to remain strong overall, down from an estimate of 17.5 million units in March to 17.2 million units in this release. The forecast is for 17.1 million units sold in 2018. At the same time, housing starts are anticipated to increase from 1.27 million units in 2017 to 1.35 million units in 2018.

Much of the focus this week will be on the Federal Reserve, which is widely expected to raise short-term interest rates for the second time this year at the conclusion of its June 13-14 meeting. The Federal Reserve will also release May industrial production data. Manufacturing output rebounded strongly in April, and another expansion in the latest figures is expected. In general, the data should continue to reflect progress for the sector relative to what was seen one year ago, with manufacturing production up 0.8 percent since April 2016. There will also be surveys from the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Banks for June, which both diverged in their May reports, with respondents to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve survey still reporting strong growth but the Empire State report stagnating.

Courtesy of Chad Moutray, Ph.D., CBE, Chief Economist
National Association of Manufacturers
SAFETY & HR
Safety is Getting Smarter
By Sheila Kennedy

Safety concerns abound in industrial organizations and utilities, and employers are under intense pressure to minimize the risks. Fortunately, new technologies and systems are available to enhance the intelligence of traditional safety approaches. New smart safety solutions help mitigate electrical and environmental hazards, make process safety systems more intuitive, and make it easier to protect your people and property from intruders. The internet of things (IoT) will only enable further innovations in this area.

"Smart safety" is defined by John Campbell, engineering manager at  Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) , as "taking full advantage of available technologies and combining them in ways that measurably improve personnel safety while reducing risk to equipment." 

An example is the MP8000 Bluetooth Overload Relay for motors and pumps from  Littelfuse. It makes fault codes available from a safe distance in a smartphone app, protecting workers from electrical risks that are normally mitigated with personal protective equipment.

"When workers interact with a motor or pump protection relay to read a fault code or to troubleshoot, traditionally they must open the door to the control panel, exposing themselves to arc-flash and shock hazards. A Bluetooth-enabled relay mitigates this risk, as workers can interact with the relay up to 30 feet away using an app on their smartphone," says Charles Newcomb, senior product manager at Littelfuse.

Forklift truck accidents are unfortunately commonplace, but new technologies may change that. The integration and implementation of smart forklifts equipped with advanced safeguarding technologies is a trend noticed at the  National Forklift Exchange.

Safety systems can shut down a plant, but a smart safety system that uses Big Data can also prevent plant shutdowns. Safety systems are intended to take the plant to a safe state in case of a process event; however, while large amounts of beneficial data are resident in HIMA safety systems, it has traditionally gone unused, says Paul Smith, director of engineering and services at  HIMA Americas.
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