Fastmarkets reports that the European Commission has said that it “stopped the clock” in its investigation into the joint venture by UPM and Sappi on May 29, with effect from May 26. According to an EU spokesperson, “the ‘clock’ in merger investigations can be suspended if the parties fail to provide, in a timely fashion, an important piece of information that the Commission has requested from them [for its competition assessment] within a prescribed deadline.” The Commission added that once the information is supplied by the parties, the clock will be restarted and the legal deadline for the decision will be “adjusted accordingly.” The initial deadline was set to be October 26.

Total printing-writing paper shipments decreased four percent in April compared to April 2017. Total printing-writing paper inventory levels decreased less than one-half of one percent from March. Imports of printing-writing papers decreased less than one-half of one percent compared to March 2017 imports, while exports remained flat compared to March 2018. •Uncoated free sheet (UFS) paper shipments in April 2018 increased year-over-year, the third increase in four months. Imports of UFS decreased 22 percent year-over-year in March – the tenth consecutive decrease of 12 percent or more. Exports of UFS papers increased 25 percent in March compared to March 2017. •Shipments of uncoated mechanical (UM) papers decreased year-over-year in April 2018 by more than 20 percent. Imports of UM decreased one percent year-over-year in March. Exports of UM decreased 45 percent year-over-year in March. •Shipments of coated free sheet (CFS) paper and coated mechanical (CM) papers in April both declined year-over-year for the eleventh consecutive month. Imports of CM papers increased 33 percent compared to March 2017, partly on the strength of a 47 percent year-over-year increase in CM imports from Canada.

HIGHLIGHTS • Pulp sales of 2,761 thousand tons (stable vs. 4Q22). • Paper sales³ of 386 thousand tons (14% vs. 4Q22). • Net average pulp price in export market: US$572/ton (-31% vs. 4Q22). • Average net paper price3 of R$6,732/ton (-5% vs. 4Q22). • Pulp cash cost ex-downtime of R$816/ton (-13% vs. 4Q22). • Leverage of 3.1 times in USD and 3.0 times in BRL. • Cerrado Project completes 86% of physical progress and 78% of financial progress.