The RISI Blog contains the latest views and opinions from our economists, engineers and editors. Find out what the RISI economists think about upcoming market trends or see what events our editorial team has been attending this week. Don't miss the additional blog postings from industry experts and leading figures...
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- Speed demons
By
Joanne Potter, Editorial Director, International News, RISI
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BRUSSELS, August 28, 2008 - It’s not quite the Olympics, but for the past five years I’ve been surveying the industry annually to find out which are the fastest paper machines around the globe. The idea sprang from a few press releases announcing records, which got me wondering what the top PM speeds
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- The taxman cometh
By
Justin Toland, Contributing Editor, PPI magazine, RISI
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BRUSSELS, August 26, 2008 - Marvin Gaye once sang, in one of his bleaker moments, “There’s only three things that’s for sure: taxes, death and trouble”. The legendary soul singer’s sentiment may have struck a chord with Finnish pulp and papermakers in recent times. Thankfully, the Finnish government has taken steps to lighten
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- Are conditions ripening for change in imports and exports?
By
Sam Sherrill, Deputy Editor, Crow's, RISI
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SAN FRANCISCO, August 25, 2008 - For much of the last two years, economic conditions in the U.S. have encouraged exports while discouraging imports. This can be applied as generally true for most products. It is especially true of wood products, as statistics of both lumber and panels indicate. The collapse of the housing
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- Oil prices are unlikely to return to their recent peaks anytime soon
By
Brendan Lowney, Vice President, Macroeconomics, RISI
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BOSTON, MA, August 22, 2008 - The great oil boom of 2007-2008 is over. After rising from $55 per barrel to $92 per barrel (a 67% increase) over the course of 2007 and then surging by another 60% to a record high of $147 by early July, the price of West Texas Intermediate oil
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- The biomass bonanza; Bioenergy spells "good news" for timberland owners
By
Bob Flynn, Director, International Timber, RISI
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SEATTLE, WA, August 21, 2008 - Recent government efforts to promote renewable energy and biofuels production may have given some timberland owners visions of windfall profits: they thought they had invested in trees, only to wake up one morning and find that they really owned oil wells, or at least some type of "energy
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