From a Producer's Point of View
One Sunday, many decades ago, I was confronted by a deacon in our church. We were talking about the pulp and paper industry, which was unfamiliar territory for him, as he was a banker. He asked me this question, "Why do you (the pulp and paper industry) work 24 hours per day, 7 days per week?" Ignoring some obvious technical reasons, my response was, "Because you charge us interest 24 hours per day, 7 days per week." Left him speechless.
The basic pulp and paper industry is so capital intensive, that we have no choice but run hard all the time. Sometimes this way of thinking causes us problems.
For instance, when printing & writing and newsprint grades were in severe declines due to the internet proliferation, industry leaders developed a schizophrenic personality. They knew they needed to run 24/7 but there was no market for that volume. Quite a conundrum.
Shrinking these sectors, sometimes with a near-violent (bankruptcy) approach, put this problem in the rear view mirror.
This, I think, is how the industry developed a reputation as a poor investment choice. In recent years, having "right sized" those portions of the industry, yields have improved and the industry is more in favor with the likes of Wall Street.
Converting and printing are different than the basic industry, and typically run 24/5. Their capital intensity is not as great, and their labor costs component is higher.
But this may be about to change in some areas. The latest trend in box plants, part of the converting sector, is to build them larger with more automation. This moves the balance to more capital, less human labor. Will this force box plants into a 24/7 mode as the normal way of operating? Remains to be seen.
