Fine Paper, Printing & Writing machines continue to fall
Another month, and a few more printing & writing grade machines are shutdown. The latest news is from Verso.
The manufacturers are blaming this on Covid-19 and schools being closed. That may be what is starting this shutdown initiative, but we don't think it will be the end of it.
Some of these machines will never start up again. They were marginal players to start with; the inertia to restart them will be too great to over come. If closed schools caused some of them to shut down, expect the need for printing & writing paper in schools to never rebound to the level that was consumed as recently as February this year. For during the shutdown, schools have learned how to do without while they continue to teach students.
Unlike packaging, where we can tout paper products as less conducive to Covid-19 transmission as compared to plastic, in the case of printing & writing paper, the computer or tablet screen is way less conducive to disease transmission, a factor that will be strongly consider in school purchases going forward.
Yes, some of these machines will never restart. I'll leave that up to you as far as determining which ones those are.
Second topic for the month. We have a brand new mill directory for the US pulp and paper industry. It is dirt cheap ($34.20) and covers the whole country. It is continuously up to date on all the latest industry news because of links it has to our publication, "Nip Impressions."
Here
is a short video (less than 4 minutes) to explain how you can order it and install it on your phone:
