RISI reveals the leading pulp and paper companies from across the globe in its latest PPI Top 100

BRUSSELS, September 17, 2009 - RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today unveiled the latest Pulp & Paper International (PPI) Top 100 ranking of the world's pulp and paper companies. International Paper is once again to be found at the head of the list. In a year that saw the first of the credit crunch bite, as well as the industry being hit by all sorts of sector movement, there has been little change at the top of the PPI Top 100. Last year's number two, Stora Enso, has been leapfrogged by Procter & Gamble (P&G), which has moved into second place from third last year.

Bigger moves outside the top ten reveal that Sequana Capital, headquartered in Paris, made a large stride from number 18 last year to number 11 this year, largely due to some major acquisitions that took place in 2007 - namely of Dalum Papier and European merchant MAP. Another interesting mover was AbitibiBowater leaping up the table from 24 to 14, which reflects the fact that the two companies are now being counted as one entity. Another company taking big strides from further down the table was NewPage who stormed from last year's 37th place to this year's 24th position due to its acquisition of Stora Enso's North American operations.

Asian companies continue to make an impression on the global industry with 23 entries in the Top 100. The Asian list continues to be dominated by Japanese companies which still hold the top six places, although Chinese firms are continuing to show clear growth, with the largest of them, Shandong Chenming, moving up one place to number 42 overall, and Nine Dragons leaping up 10 places to number 44.

Overall, sales of pulp, paper and board totalled $322.76 billion in 2008 compared with $296.19 billion in 2007, but although sales were up, paper and board production among the Top 100 was down from 210 million tonnes to 199.3 million tonnes. Pulp production increased by five million tonnes to 32.2 million tonnes.

The annual PPI Top 100 is available for free on the RISI website. This must-read report from the September issue of PPI magazine can be accessed at: http://www.risiinfo.com/techchannels/papermaking/The-PPI-Top-100-A-case-of-deja-vu.html?source=email_MT In addition to the Top 100 article, PDFs of all the tables that relate to the report, which provide access to comparable sales data, earnings for 2007 and 2008, total assets, and production figures for pulp, paper and board are also available.

Later this month RISI will launch a related new product, Pulp & Paper Company Profiles, designed for industry professionals who need more in-depth information than the PPI Top 100 provides. Subscribers get access to thoroughly researched profiles of the top 50 pulp and paper producers worldwide along with interactive ranking tools that let users easily compare financial results and capacities among companies. Visit http://www.risiinfo.com/pcopro for more details.

About RISI

RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, wood biomass, tissue, timber, nonwovens, printing and publishing and financial services industries to help them make better decisions.

Headquartered in Boston (Bedford), Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; Helsinki, Finland; and Charlottesville, Virginia. More information can be found at www.risi.com.

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