Canada on Wednesday offered its pulp and paper mills up to one billion dollars (883 million US dollars) to convert to renewable energies and boost competitiveness, after a US subsidy controversially gave trade advantages to US mills. "Canada's forest industry is going through a very difficult period of restructuring and it's compounded by the collapse in markets caused by the global recession we're experiencing," said Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt. The funds are to be used over the next three years "to improve the energy efficiency of ...

Finnish industrial production plunged in April on an annual basis for the sixth straight month as the global financial crisis drained demand for Finnish products, official data showed. Industrial output plummeted by 21 percent in April from the same month in 2008. In March the fall was 16.6 percent year-on-year. Month-on-month, industrial production in April slid by 3.5 percent from the previous month when it rose by 1.9 percent. Output fell in all main sectors, but the paper industry reported the biggest decline, 30.6 percent, while ...

Canada, Brazil, Chile and the European Union protested an unintended tax break for U.S. paper companies Thursday, warning Congress that it could result in trade sanctions. Struggling U.S. paper companies recently discovered they could qualify for federal tax credits intended to promote the development of alternative fuels because they use a byproduct in the paper-making process as fuel to power their mills. The tax credits were never intended for paper companies, but now they could ...

Finnish paper maker Stora Enso said Monday it has agreed with Chile's Arauco to buy land and plantations in Uruguay from Spanish pulp maker Ence for 344 million dollars (256 million euros). Stora and Arauco will each have 50 percent of the assets acquired. "This is an important step for Stora Enso given that cost-competitive plantation-based pulp is a cornerstone of our strategy," Stora Enso's chief executive officer Jouko Karvinen said in a statement. Karvinen said that with the latest acquisition, the two companies would own some 250 ...