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Program

Wednesday, 13 November, 2019

Pre-Event

6:30pm

Pre-Registration and Welcome Cocktail Reception

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

Day One

7:45am

Registration

8:45am

Welcome remarks

9:00am

Special Recognition Award

Special Recognition Award to be presented to Steve Voorhees, CEO of WestRock for completing the acquisition of Kapstone, and for the company's unique and ongoing business efforts at coordinating and teaming corrugated and consumer packaging.

9:30am

CEO Panel: The strategic vision for the global containerboard industry

  • How supply is reacting to demand; forecasting current capacity and plans for addition
  • Assessing the continued trend for lightweight linerboard
  • How are leading producers innovating to ensure a more sustainable future?
10:30am

Coffee and Tea Networking Break

11:00am

Macroeconomic outlook

  • An analysis of global economic trends and their influence on the containerboard market
  • Current status of the global economy and predictions over the next 12 months
  • How Brexit, trade wars and political uncertainty are influencing the global economy

  - Examining the subsequent impact on the containerboard industry

11:30am

North American & global containerboard outlook

  • What is behind the recent softness in the global markets 
  • Divergent supply and demand patterns across the globe
  • Predictions v. reality: The genuine impact of e-commerce on containerboard production
12:00pm

Presentation of the Winner of the StepChange Consulting Survey Prize

12:15pm

Networking Lunch

1:30pm

Presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award Jack Schwarz, Senior General Partner of Schwarz Partners

Presenters on stage will be:

Greg Rudder, Managing Editor, Pulp and Paper Week, Fastmarkets RISI

Jim Porter, President, Business Development and Latin America, WestRock

Jack Schwarz, Senior General Partner, Schwarz Partners

2:15pm

New Capacity: When, Where, Who and Why with focus on North America

  • Assessing the plans for additional capacity across North America and globally
  • Business logic behind increasing capacity during a time of weak demand
  • How increased capacity and new build mills will impact global supply and demand
2:45pm

Exploring the M&A appetite in light of the current climate

  • How the biggest trends are impacting the desire to merge or acquire. With a focus on; 
     - Global e-commerce
     - Sustainability
     - FMCG
     - Changing consumer preferences
     - Digitisation/ Technology
  • Looking at the trend for large integrated companies to acquire smaller independent producers
  • Impact on consolidation on pricing and performance in the containerboard industry
 
3:15pm

Coffee and Tea Networking Break

3:45pm

OCC markets in light of the Chinese import ban

  • What will happen to the waste paper that was historically exported to China
  • Assessing the current and future demand for OCC over the next 12 months
  • Charting the demand and use of OCC against virgin pulp
  • Opportunities for India - how an influx in waste paper imports is bringing life back into the industry
4:15pm

Examining the key drivers for change in the Asian containerboard markets

  • Discussing recent changes to the Asian Containerboard markets
  • How Chinese policies are impacting the rest of Asia
  • Analysis of the Asian paper packaging market
4:45pm

Crossroads Paper Project: What it means for Utah and beyond

5:15pm

Global expert Capex strategy & asset consolidation

  • The Pulp and Paper industry’s history of allocating capexes
  • Why evaluating capex requests in isolation does not work
  • Why paybacks, NPV, IRR, EVA etc of capexes are pointless
 
5:45pm

Cocktail Reception

7:15pm

Close of Day one

Friday, 15 November, 2019

Day Two

7:30am

Registration

8:30am

Welcome remarks

 

 

8:35am

Panel Discussion: E-commerce and the impact on corrugated demand

  • The rise in e-commerce and how it is affecting demand for containerboard
  • How consumer preferences towards sustainability are impacting decisions made by international retailers
  • Will e-retail continue to grow? If so, how?
9:15am

The technology of packaging: Innovation for a better and more sustainable future

  • How changing customer attitudes towards a greener future are affecting the industry
  • The environment benefits associated with containerboard
  • What does sustainability actually mean for producers?
  • How new technologies are ensuring sustainablity 

  - Reality and viability of implementing them

9:45am

Panel Discussion: Lightweight Linerboard: The continued trend for lighter materials

  • Exploring supply and demand for lightweight linerboard across Europe and North America
  • Machinery innovations and technology advances
10:20am

Recognition and speech by Miguel Rincon, PPI Awards Global CEO of the Year 2019 Award Winner

10:30am

Coffee and Tea Networking Break

11:00am

Fiber-based packaging: a suitable alternative to plastics?

  • Global packaging and innovation trends
  • How are major retailers responding to changing consumer demands and a grower desire to be "Green"
  • Which brands are getting packaging innovation right?
  • How plastic is fighting back?
11:30am

Digital Printing and its high-speed, customized potential

  • A review of the growth in digital printing globally and its potential
  • A digital printer's core values: high speed, customization and personalization, lower cost and design flexiblity 
12:00pm

European containerboard market outlook

  • Overview of the European containerboard market
  • How supply/demand misbalance is impacting trade
  • Where are prices, compared to mill cash costs
12:30pm

Networking Lunch

1:30pm

Klabin Case Study: Puma Project II and its projected impact on global supply and demand

2:00pm

Russia’s increasing capacity: a spotlight on Ilim’s containerboard projects

2:30pm

Panel Discussion: Emerging Markets: Growing industries in Latin America

  • Understanding the containerboard industry in Latin America
  • Growing agriculture exports and impact on the emerging containerboard markets
  • Examining how foreign investment in Latin America in bringing into the industry
3:00pm

Examining the containerboard industry in the Middle East & North Africa

  • The impact of the recent GCC antidumping duties on the containerboard regional outlook
  • Musical chairs dynamic: should we expect a wave of excess imports in the forecast?
  • Capacity changes in light of demand volatility and antidumping ruling
  • The heating war against plastic: echoes in the MENA market?  
  • The rise of e-commerce: impact on containerboard demand

 

 
3:30pm

Close of conference