Strategic Issues and Trends in the Pulp and Paper Industry, 1992 TAPPI Conference Proceedings

More than for any other industry, capital stands as the lifeblood of the pulp and paper business. Over the past dozen years, the U. S. pulp and paper industry has invested over $100 billion to position itself as a premier world-class competitor. Increasingly, the long-term benefits of that massive investment are at risk as a result of government policies not fully in tune with globalized markets.

In today’s world of competitive finance, capital resources are especially costly, making it vitally important that government and business work more closely together to secure the future and American jobs. Unlike many foreign competitors, whose governments generally do cooperate to improve competitiveness, U. S. producers face a culture biased toward a more adversarial relationship.

To remain competitive in the 1990’s and beyond, one of the industry’s major challenges is to engender a public policy climate where public officials recognize the need to set priorities for the limited amounts of capital available to meet their new requirements. These priorities must be based on sound science, alleviate real risks to human health and the environment and be economically and technically achievable.

To meet this challenge, the U. S. primary producers of pulp, paper and paperboard will reach out to all industry stakeholders to increase their understanding of the severe consequences of allowing government to continue to operate in a “business as usual” fashion. So informed, industry stakeholders must mobilize and increase their involvement in activities which will help shape public policy outcomes more favorable to the industry’s long-term needs.