Specialist
Former Director at Domtar Corp
Agenda
- Paper pulp market trends
- Competitive dynamics throughout the paper market and its various segments
- Demand and pricing trends affecting Domtar (NYSE: UFS)
- Q4 2019 outlook
Questions
1.
Could you outline your updated perspective on the paper pulp market and unpack the most relevant trends that are developing?
2.
What is causing the challenging pricing environment of pulp?
3.
How do you expect the pricing headwinds in North America to develop for Domtar over the next 6-12 months?
4.
You mentioned small growth for paper out of China, or APAC in general. Could you elaborate on that?
5.
You mentioned how the trade war with China has had mixed impacts for paper and pulp markets. Can you dive into that a little bit further?
6.
How is the global demand for paper developing at the moment? Is it flat or still declining?
7.
Do you feel that paper demand is close to bottoming out in a developed geography such as North America, or is there still a significant amount of downside?
8.
Can you elaborate on the fluff pulp and market pulp? How and why should prices recover, if at all?
9.
What is your directional assessment of the pricing for fluff pulp vs market pulp? Do they move in unison?
10.
What are prices for fluff pulp and market pulp in a reasonably balanced market?
11.
Could you elaborate on the speciality pulp segment and what the different processes are to produce speciality vs fluff vs paper grade?
12.
Can companies easily upgrade and downgrade along the quality spectrum to take advantage of better margin? For example, could you upgrade fluff to viscose?
13.
Can you break down what it costs to repurpose a paper mill and how long that process typically takes?
14.
In your opinion, how has Domtar been in managing responsiveness to the market? What is the efficiency in managing its volumes and utilisation levels throughout in market dynamics?
15.
Are there any potential bad actors in the paper industry that might disrupt pricing in the environment?
16.
Can you elaborate on the personal care segment of Domtar and how attractive and profitable this segment is vs paper and pulp?
17.
Do you expect the revenue mix to shift more towards personal care? What do you predict the personal care will be as a percentage of Domtar’s revenue?
18.
Is there anything additional to highlight when assessing Domtar? If someone was to buy Domtar who would it be? Which would drive the highest cost synergies? Are there players that want access to Domtar's market?
