10 May 2007
Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina, Vancouver, Canada
20 Years of Change: Looking Back/Moving Forward
The PricewaterhouseCoopers 20th Annual Global Forest and Paper Conference proved to be a highly informative and memorable event. This one-day conference featured a line up of industry leaders and over 400 delegates, including CEOs, senior forest and paper industry executives, industry analysts, suppliers, customers and government policy makers from around the world.
Please access the speaker presentations and biographies from our conference pages.
Program highlights
20 Years of Change: Looking Back, Moving ForwardBruce McIntyre, Leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) Canadian Forest, Paper and Packaging Practice and Conference Co-chairperson welcomed delegates to the 20th annual conference and to Vancouver. Bruce also thanked the sponsors for their support.
To kick off the conference and provide some perspective on the changes over the past 20 years, Mike Apsey, Retired Forest Executive touched on some of the key changes that he has witnessed. The key changes have included the softwood lumber dispute, the mountain pine beetle, the “war in the woods” and the increasing global nature of the industry. Mike MacCallum, Retired PwC Partner moderated the discussion.
Economic Outlook & Financial Performance In his presentation, When Worlds Collide, Mr. King of HSBC, described the shifting balance of world trade in forest and paper industry. The traditional US and European market dominance, he explained, is being eroded by the increasing capacity and demand of emerging countries. The impact of globalization, the imbalance in employment practices, increasing commodity prices, inflation and exchange rates were discussed. Mark Connelly, Managing Director at Credit Suisse, presented a global review of the investment climate in the forest and paper sector. Focusing on specific major markets including China, US, Latin America, Canada and Europe, Mr. Connelly discussed the corporate strategies of many of the industries key players from a broad financial perspective. Craig Campbell of PricewaterhouseCoopers presented highlights from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2007 Global Forest and Paper Industry Survey and recent CEO Survey. Mr. Campbell also discussed the financial performance of the British Columbia industry with specific emphasis on the tragic impact of the Mountain Pine Beetle. This panel was moderated by Michael Vermette, a Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Advisory Services practice.
Market Outlook PanelRuss Taylor of International WOOD MARKETS Group Inc. discussed the global timber developments including the long-term trends regarding exporting countries. He also explored the potential impact on primary processing in Russia as a result of the new Russian log export tax. Log prices will only increase once the U.S. housing starts rebound and the Russian log export tax is fully implemented. Chad Wasilenkoff of Fortress Financial Corporation explained that is was a good time to invest selectively in the industry. Commodities in general have been in a bull market except for forestry. Specialty paper is a good place to invest (e.g. non-woven wallpaper). Martin Glass of EMGE & Co. Ltd. spoke about how Europe may see more mergers since they are only moderately concentrated currently. He also discussed that producer can not pass on the cost increases to consumers. The panel moderator was Michael Armstrong of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Strategic Issues & TrendsJohn Williams, President of SCA Packaging, Europe, described the dynamics of the European paper and packaging market. Building brand value, he explained, is crucial to escaping the “commodity trap” and capturing increased prices for shareholders. Ville Jaakonsalo, Senior Vice President, Finance, Oy Metsä-Botnia Ab, talked about the strategic objectives and risks associated with Botnia’s large-scale investment in Latin America. Mr. Jaakonsalo explained that long-term relationships with commercial financiers and strong host government support have proved essential for the success of this initiative. In his presentation Sustainable Vision in a Carbon Constrained Global Economy, Stora Enso’s Hannu Ryöppönen, explained how customer and stockholder demand for action on climate change is driving change in the forest and paper industry. Mr. Ryöppönen described the concept of the bio-refinery that optimizes all the components of the tree for multiple uses. Björn Stigson, President of World Business Council for Sustainable Development, talked about the organizations role in building dialogue, combating illegal logging, finding solutions for energy and climate, and developing a customer procurement guide. The panel was moderated by Clive Suckling of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Executive PerspectivesWest Fraser’s Hank Ketcham spoke about the key issues facing the BC industry: global competition, the softwood lumber agreement, mountain pine beetle, bioenergy opportunities and sustainability. Jimmy Lee of Mercer International described that even though there is a global shift to cheaper fibre (e.g. eucalyptus), NBSK still has a strong future. Andrew Miller of Stimson Lumber stated that the main issue to deal with is how do we reconcile the issue of being a successful, profitable company in an industry that has traditionally destroyed capital. Votorantim Celulose E Papel’s Jose Penido spoke of the company’s shift away from paper and into pulp and that the key issue is reducing risks associated with the business. The co-moderators for this panel were Robert Barnden and Bruce McIntyre, both of PricewaterhouseCoopers.Bruce I. McIntyreCanadian Leader, Global Forest, Paper and Packaging Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Vancouver, Canada
Agenda
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