Cascades Inc. announced that its Laval plant in Québec, specializing in the manufacture of napkins for the away-from-home market, will be closing on June 30, 2021. The Laval plant has an annual converting capacity of 1.4 million cases. This volume will be moved to other Cascades plants and filled by additional capacity. The plant currently employs 54 workers. Until the plant is closed, Cascades will work closely with its employees to reduce the impact of this announcement. Among other things, it will offer to relocate as many employees as possible to its many other business units in Québec. Employees who are not able, or do not wish to relocate to other plants will be offered support in their search for other employment.

Back at high speed, the Hunkeler Innovation Days in Lucerne, Switzerland will be held from February 27 to March 2. Over the past three years, where the pandemic prevented this industry event from happening, high speed inkjet printing continued to evolve and will continue to do so according to the 2021 Smithers report “The Future of Print Equipment Markets to 2026”. For both types of high-speed presses – reel fed and sheet fed – the market is growing. In Europe, inkjet reel fed installations are expected to grow by around 50% between 2021 and 2026. Still, sheet fed inkjet installations top these figures as they are expected to grow by 126% in Western Europe and by 288% in Eastern Europe in the same period. Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper – part of the international packaging and paper group Mondi – developed the largest selection of high-speed inkjet papers in close collaboration with renowned OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). The papers feature ideal gamut, reels as well as sheets in grammages ranging from 60 to 300 gsm and various surface treatments.

Verso Corporation announced that Adam St. John has resigned as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective as of September 30, 2020. The Verso Board of Directors has named Randy J. Nebel, a current member of the Board, as interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Nebel will also continue to serve as a member of Verso's Board. Verso's Board will commence a search for a permanent President and Chief Executive Officer, and plans to engage a national executive search firm to help identify and evaluate qualified candidates. Mr. Nebel joined Verso's Board in 2019 and has extensive paper and packaging industry knowledge and experience. He previously served as Executive Vice President of Integrated Packing at KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation, where he oversaw manufacturing and direct customer commercial operations. He was formerly President of Longview Fibre Paper and Packing, Inc. and is a past member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Manufacturers and the American & Forest Paper Association.