By Mark Rushton, Graeme Rodden and Rhiannon James- van Beuningen with contributions from the entire RISI team
BRUSSELS,
June 28, 2010
(RISI) -
The RISI top 50 power list 2010: 41-50
41. Mark Wilde, Deutsche Bank
A regular on this list, the senior analyst is a popular speaker at conferences around the world. With his wealth of experience, he knows the forest products industry well. He is also a good writer and his regular commentaries (Dr. Paper) are looked forward to as he knows how to highlight the key issues. Among the analysts he commands the most attention in the market. He is also a perennial candidate on investment and website listings of the top ranked forest products analysts.
42. Mikael Lindström, Innventia
If there is one thing the pulp and paper industry needs in the 21st century, it is innovation. It must find new ways and new products to make - not just simply turning pulp into the commodity of paper.
Fortunately there are some very able and creative brains on the case. One of them is Mikael Lindström, adjunct professor, and research manager at Sweden's Innventia, a research institute working for the pulp, paper and packaging industries. Since 1998, Lindström has been the senior research manager, for the New Materials and Composites division as well as a "principal investigator" for biomimetic fiber engineering.
Lindström has developed a concept for integrated materials - Hierarchic Design - using pulp as one of the major ingredients which has been presented both at scientific conferences and twice during the prestigious Design Week in Milan. This included market pulp producer Södra's Parupu children's chair and a designer lamp, both made out of DuraPulp. The lamp has very recently won Sweden's biggest and most prestigious design prize, Design S. The bi-annual award is granted by the Swedish Design Association.
43. D. Eadward Tree, Dead Tree Edition
Whilst little is known about the man behind the Dead Tree Edition, the blog itself has become a must-read for anybody involved in the pulp, paper and publishing industries, especially those who like a bit of spice with their breakfast reading. Written by the self-styled, D. Eadward Tree, the Dead Tree Edition blog is not afraid to dig into the issues that the pulp, paper and publishing industry would rather lay buried under dead leaves. By day, the writer is a magazine manager dealing with issues such as printing, paper and postage. By night, he is ruffling feathers across various different sectors and his anonymous writings are gaining ground in the main stream media as well as in the business-to-business sector. RISI regularly reposts extracts from the Dead Tree Edition blog, for example. Mr. Tree has touched on topics from black liquor subsidies (undoubtedly some of his best work to date) to postage hikes, through corporate reshufflings and CEO resignations. Not only is his blog being avidly read by people in our industry, he is also getting high level executives commenting on his work. We at RISI hope that Mr. Tree will not be unmasked in the near future and can continue to challenge the sector through his anonymous writing.
44. David Walker, Macquarie Capital Advisers
Since January 2007, David Walker has been the managing director for Macquarie Capital Advisers, based in Singapore. He leads a global team of bankers focusing on advisory and principal investments in the forest products, pulp, paper, and packaging sectors. Under his reign, the team has completed a wide range of important transactions in the sector, especially in the Asia Pacific region. Apart from his day-to-day job, Walker is a regular speaker at industry events, and more importantly, has the ear of the leading CEOs in the Asia Pacific forest products sector. Prior to joining Macquarie Capital, Walker was president of Asia-Pacific operations for Pöyry Forest Industry Consulting and chairman of Pöyry Capital.
45. Vu Ngoc Bao, Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association
Although some projects in Vietnam have been postponed due to the financial crisis, the country still holds much promise in terms of pulp and paper investment and is attracting interest from producers and suppliers worldwide. The face of the Vietnamese industry is Vu Ngoc Bao, secretary general of the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association, and he is a regular speaker at industry events. Bao believes there are many reasons why Vietnam is an attractive investment destination. These include: a favorable geographic location for commerce with China and fellow Southeast Asian countries; a stable political system; vast water and forest resources; and cheap labor. However, he admitted there are some risks and difficulties too, such as slow administrative reform, corruption and poor infrastructure. Bao believes that the way forward in Vietnam will be to invest in high quality, modern machines that can compete with imported goods.
46. Lynn Tilton, Patriach
Showing a true entrepreneurial spirit that too often seems sadly lacking in the modern pulp and paper industry, Tilton is a New York-based financier who is CEO of Patriarch Partners, which controls, among other things, MD Helicopters (formerly owned by famed reclusive billionaire, the late Howard Hughes), Rand McNally Maps, Stila cosmetics and the Spiedel catalogue. The latest acquisition is the Old Town mill in Maine where Patriarch plans to build a biorefinery, turning wood chips into a biofuel (cellulosic bio-butanol) as well as producing acetic acid and other byproducts. Full-scale production is slated for mid-2012. The Maine forests could be the helicopter fuel source of the future.
47. Jack Schwarz, Schwarz Partners
From the end users comes the president of the largest North American sheet feeder operator. He continues to expand his unique business model of forming consortiums of independent box pants to build corrugators in which his firm has ownership interests and management contracts. The company has become the largest buyer of North American containerboard and
has shifted the structure of the corrugated box industry.
48. John Williams, Domtar
The former brown paper grade executive has done an excellent job reversing Domtar's fortunes. Stock prices have zoomed from a low of $14 to around the $60 mark. Williams has successfully cut debt, managed to win tax credits in both the US and Canada and although Domtar is the largest white paper producer, he
has repositioned assets to take advantage of growing markets such as fluff pulp
and energy. Perhaps more importantly, he is rewarding patient investors by re-establishing the dividend and repurchasing shares.
49. FIFA World Cup
While productivity at some companies may take a hit as workers avidly follow their national team instead of focusing on tons, the so-called "beautiful game" is expected to have a positive impact on paper and board consumption this year. Just take a look at some of the numbers from the football World Cup in South Africa. There are 64 games being held at multiple venues across the country: this translates into millions of printed tickets, food wrappers, paper cups, programs, airline tickets, etc. In major countries around the world, newspapers and magazines were planning to produce special supplements to celebrate the World Cup on the back of additional advertising. Although many of these guides will be available online, there are still major printed efforts being published. One example is the ESPN 2010 World Cup Guide. Our Executive Editor has been studying his copy on a daily basis and it is 114 pages long on high quality coated paper.... and this is in a country where football means something completely different to the rest of the world!
50. Social Media: Twitter and LinkedIn
LinkedIn could be described as the Facebook of the business world, and has had a rapid uptake among industry people since its launch in 2003.
One of the real advantages of LinkedIn is the groups, and the pulp and paper industry is well represented here. To name just a few: Paper Industry Professionals, Paperboard Packaging Group, Pulp & Paper Industry and The World of Paper (and of course the RISI Group), each having hundreds and even thousands of members. Here, every day, members of the groups from all over the globe are able discuss the topic of the day - no matter what country they are in.
Although uptake of Twitter has been slower in the pulp and paper sector, there are pioneers among the paper companies who are using this channel to communicate directly to customers. Among the notable Twitter users are Neenah Paper, Mohawk, Sappi, and Finch Paper to name but a few. These two social media channels and others are changing the way that the industry communicates with each other and its customers forever.
The RISI to 50 power list 2010: Introduction
The RISI top 50 power list 2010: 1-10
The RISI top 50 power list 2010: 11-20
The RISI top 50 power list 2010: 21-30
The RISI top 50 power list 2010: 31-40
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