Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals, will increase prices by 3 to 15 percent on a range of polymer-based chemistries, effective immediately or as customer contracts allow. These price increases are necessary due to inflation and availability of raw materials and elevated freight and energy costs. “We are unable to absorb the impact of the increased costs that we are currently experiencing but we will continue to work in partnership with our customers to help mitigate the increases,” said Cory Ross, director, North America marketing and product management. “Solenis remains committed to controlling costs through process improvements to deliver high-value, innovative solutions that our customers have come to expect.”

The world’s largest single-line eucalyptus pulp mill achieved average nominal capacity within less than six months after start-up, nearly four months ahead of schedule. Another milestone was met on January 8 when the mill’s production reached its first 1 million tons of pulp. When fully operational, the mill will have an annual production capacity of 2.55 million tons. The learning curve at the new mill was completed on December 29, 2024, when Suzano consistently produced bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp at an average daily rate exceeding the planned 7,203 t/d for 30 days. Leonardo Mendonça Pimenta, Director of Industrial Operations at Suzano in Ribas do Rio Pardo, commented: “This achievement is the result of a combination of several factors, including excellent equipment, great suppliers, and very good project execution. The training of the operating team more than a year before the start of operations also played a major role in delivering these extraordinary results.”

UPM’s negotiations with the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union (Paperiliitto) are now underway for UPM Pulp, with the other UPM businesses expected to follow, according to media reports from Finland. Finnish trade publication Print&Media has reported that, following movement with the situation on Friday, negotiations have started today (7 February) for the UPM Pulp business and negotiations on UPM’s other divisions should also begin this week. The publication was also sent a comment from labels division UPM Raflatac, in response to the warning from the European association for the self-adhesive label industry, Finat, on the availability of label stocks, which it shared with Printweek: “The strike further aggravates the industry level supply situation which has been tight and constrained already since early 2021.