Smurfit Kappa has created a sustainable packaging solution to transport bees for Biobest, a world leader in biological crop protection and pollination. Biobest began back in 1987 when veterinarian Roland De Jonghe began breeding bumble bees in his garage to organically pollinate tomatoes. Tomato growers were quick to see the advantage of using bumble bees over chemical pesticides and the company flourished. Biobest approached the packaging giant to design an insulated and weather-resistant box to replace the EPS pack it was using to transport live bumble bees. It also had to be robust enough to withstand long periods outdoors as the boxes are used for outdoor pollination of fruit and vegetables.

Third quarter 2024 net income (loss) was $(3.9) million ($(0.11) per diluted share) compared to $(50.4) million ($(1.47) per diluted share) in the third quarter of 2023. Net income (loss) from ongoing operations, which excludes special items, was $0.2 million ($0.01 per diluted share) in the third quarter of 2024 compared with $(5.1) million ($(0.15) per diluted share) in the third quarter of 2023. John Steitz, Tredegar’s president and chief executive officer, said, "Our ongoing operations for the third quarter were disappointingly at the break-even level due to low profitability at Bonnell Aluminum from unfavorable cost events, including manufacturing inefficiencies. On the favorable side, net new orders were up 7% over the second quarter but with margin pressures from imports and excess industry capacity." Mr. Steitz continued, "Regarding the trade case brought by a coalition of aluminum extruders and the United Steelworkers against 14 countries, we were very disappointed by the split negative vote by the U.S. International Trade Commission and the surprising recusal of one of its members. The USITC decision on October 30 indicated that it believes the industry was not materially injured by reason of the subject imports, despite preliminary determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce of pricing below fair value and receiving unfair subsidies. The coalition is evaluating next steps for challenging the decision."

Metsä Board’s CEO Mika Joukio: “In October–December, demand for paperboards was lower than expected, and our delivery volumes decreased from the previous quarter. We adjusted production to match the low demand at several of our mills. Our profitability was also burdened by the repair shut-down at Metsä Fibre’s Kemi bioproduct mill, which lasted for about a month. Our sales in October–December amounted to EUR 446 million, and our comparable operating result was EUR -3.6 million. We had a positive start to 2024, with paperboard demand picking up clearly from the previous year’s record low level. However, activity faded towards the end of the year, and our paperboard deliveries, amounting to approximately 1.5 million tonnes, remained below our capacity level. Demand is still constrained by cautious purchasing behaviour and consumption focusing more on services than products. In addition, market balance has been influenced by the strong growth in Asian paperboard capacity and increasing paperboard imports especially to Turkey, the Middle East and South America.