PPI has been publishing for four decades now. In this supplement, we take a nostalgic look back at some of the major changes over that time

by Jim Kenny

PPI celebrates reaching 40 years young!

Just in case you hadn't worked it out yet, this is PPI's Special 40th Anniversary Supplement. As is traditional with anniversaries, we originally decided to have a party. The plan was to fly everyone who had ever read or contributed to PPI over the past 40 years to Brussels for the weekend for a massive get-together. But that proved slightly tricky as we weren't sure how to contact them all and obviously we didn't want to leave anyone out. (Another minor detail was the preliminary costing - approximately $25 million.)

Instead, we decided to produce this special anniversary supplement, which is almost as much fun and far less inconvenient for those of you who live outside Brussels.

Hopefully, you will find this one-off issue of PPI as fascinating as we did, especially as we were trawling through the back issues trying to decide what to include from the PPIs of yesteryear. After much discussion, we came up with the idea of a Worldwide News compilation, covering PPI's first year in 1959 and each subsequent 10-year anniversary - 1969, 1979 and 1989. For good measure, we also included a review of some of the major stories from last year to bring you right up to date. And as if that wasn't enough, just for a bit of fun we've even taken a trip in the PPI time machine to bring you back all the latest gossip and news from the year 2009.

My personal favorites are the stories that mention cataclysmic world events merely as footnotes to the 'real' story of how paper and board production or consumption is holding up against the odds (see Cuban Revolution mention in 1959 report). But I suspect that everyone will have their own personal favorite from the few that we have compiled here and hopefully they will spark a few fond memories.

Growing pains

On a more serious note, PPI has been asking industry figures to chart some of the developments they believe are among the most important to have taken place over the years. Following the same theme, some of the magazine's leading lights, past and present, have been tracking the changes PPI has been through over the last four decades.

As you can see from the graph below, the pulp and paper industry has been through a lot. If nothing else, one fundamental difference is the scale of the sector, which has grown dramatically to take consumption levels around the world far in excess of those in 1959.

Overall, pulp and paper demand has grown at a fairly steadily, pedestrian pace over the past few decades, but you can still pick out the difficult period of the mid-1970s when the oil crisis hit and another dip in the early 1980s, reflecting the economic slowdown of that period. But macroeconomic events have only done so much to shape today's industry. Mainly, it has been pulp and papermakers that have forced changes on the structure of the sector as they grappled with, and fed, the famous paper industry cycle.

Getting board

Speaking of which, this special issue actually includes our very own board game based on real paper industry events. (Well, almost.) Riding the Cycle is PPI's little present for you. This game is not available in any shops and you can play it any time you get a spare moment in the office or at the mill.

Obviously, PPI has insured itself heavily against getting sued as the game goes on general release. Be warned, the compelling nature of Riding the Cycle will almost certainly lead to a few more boiler explosions and sheet breaks. Flashing red lights and loud alarms will do nothing to distract engrossed plant operators as they aim to be top dog in the paper industry's NUMBER ONE (alright, only) board game.

If you do manage to tear yourself away from the game (or you don't have a dice), then there are even more fascinating pages in this anniversary supplement to keep you occupied. The Top 150 has been one of the most enduring features over the history of PPI's lifetime, so in this issue we have compiled a tribute to some of the old corporate league tables. The listings from years gone by represent a living history of the major players in the sector and we hope you will enjoy flicking through to find familiar old names, or just tracking the rise (or fall) of your past or present group.

So, until the next anniversary edition of PPI in 2009, we wish you all the best and happy reading.