Voices

``THERE is no doubt that the tragic events of September 11 (terrorist attacks on New York and Washington) have placed additional stresses on consumer confidence in an already weak economy. The long term impact on our company from those events is still undetermined.'' -- Mr John Dillon, Chairman, International Paper, the world's largest paper manufacturer.

``The global paper industry has been passing through a recession during the last few months and global market sentiment has affected the domestic paper industry.'' -- Mr Pradeep Dogle, Managing Director, ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboard.

``Market pulp prices stabilised in September, the first halt in the slide since January 2001. Steep output cuts in the summer finally stemmed the climb in producer inventories... whether intentions (to raise price by $20 in October) materialise in the context of greater global uncertainty remains to be seen.'' -- Comment by Bank of Montreal in its latest commodity outlook monthly report.

``Long term returns from the paper industry have been disastrous. Between 1974 and the end of 2000, the industry underperformed the overall market by 914 per cent. Even when it has outperformed, it has been riskier than the market in general.'' -- Comment in Merrill Lynch study on the paper and pulp industry.

``The Merrill study covers a period when the industry was fragmented and behaving badly. Today we are more disciplined and more focused on creating stable returns.'' -- Mr Esko Makalainen, Senior Executive Vice-President, Stora Enso, the world's second largest paper producer.

``Despite several bouts of consolidation, Europe still has more than 1,000 paper companies.'' -- Mr Pertti Laine, Research Director, Finish Forest Industries Association.

``Newsprint prices will likely remain under downward pressure in the coming moths. Poor advertising following September 11 has hurt newspapers' financial performance and newsprint consumption.'' -- Comment by Bank of Montreal.

``We are very much on the look-out to expand capacities based on imported plant and equipment...as these are allowed now under the liberal export import regime on the OGL.'' -- Mr Pradeep Dogle, Managing Director, ITC Bhadrachalam Paperboards.