Millar Western’s Director of Marketing Kevin Edgson a presenter at PPI Conference
Millar Western Forest Products Ltd’s Director of Marketing Kevin Edgson attended Pulp and Paper International’s 14th Market Pulp Conference, March 29 -30, 2004 in Nice, France as a presenter. An abstract of Mr. Edgson’s discussion follows:
Taking on the Blackberry: market pulp faces up to the electronic media challenge
Papermakers today face unprecedented challenges to their market share from other communications media. Demand for low-cost, high-function options have consumers switching from paper-based media to such easy-to-use, easy-to-love alternatives as the internet, electronic mail and personal communication devices. The attractive economics and functionality behind electronic media are putting relentless pressure on paper producers and, in turn, on producers of their highest-cost input – woodpulp.
Market pulp producers must recognize the realities at play in today’s marketplace, and accept the challenges facing papermakers as their own. By doing so, they can position themselves to contribute to the continued growth and health of the paper industry. Northern hemisphere pulp producers do not generally boast the luxury of offering cost competitiveness as a major contribution to the papermakers’ bottom line. Instead, they must find ways to add value to the papermakers’ product by providing key functional advantages and technically knowledgeable service support.
As a leading high-yield pulp producer, Millar Western has long recognized that competing as a commodity with the lowest-cost hardwood alternative, generally from the southern hemisphere, is not a game BCTMP producers can win. The strong market position BCTMP today holds is a reflection of its ability to add value by providing specific attributes like high bulk and opacity, while maintaining or improving printability. In this way, BCTMP is helping papermakers improve their position in the increasingly competitive world of communications media.