THE NAVIGATOR COMPANY Press Release - January 12th2015
World's largest office supplies trade fair in Frankfurt
Portucel Soporcel group launches global competition at Paperworld 2015
Major event for consolidating Group exports
Navigator displays solutions for home users
Group exports to 127 countries over five continents
Company achieves record output in the first nine months of 2014
The Portucel Soporcel group, leading European manufacturer of uncoated woodfree printing and writing paper, will once again make a strong showing at Paperworld, the world's largest trade fair for the sector, running from January 31stto February 3thin Frankfurt. The Portuguese group will take the opportunity to display the latest features of its own brands to the more than
80,000 visitors expected at the event. Pride of place will naturally go to Navigator, in line with its strategy of pinpointing new opportunities and developing business partnerships around the world.
The prime aim will therefore be to make the most of the face-to-face contact with leading global distributors in order to bolster the Group's sales performance, building on the achievements of the first nine months of 2014, during which the Portucel Soporcel group not only expanded its export business from 118 to 127 countries, accomplishing the widest export base of any Portuguese company, but it also saw its paper output rise to record levels, with the sales volume up by 3.3% to over 1.147 million tons. The robust volume of paper sales made it possible to minimise the negative effect of falling pulp and paper prices over the period, allowing the Group to record a slight increase in turnover to € 1,138 million.
"In 2015 we are looking to grow the Group's business and turnover in new geographical regions, which means an ongoing search for new opportunities, without of course neglecting the task of consolidating our share in the main markets where we are already established", explained Hermano Mendonça, marketing director of the Portucel Soporcel group, who went on to say, "Trade fairs like Paperworld are crucially important for promoting the Group's brands to the international wholesale trade, permitting us to seize new business opportunities and to consolidate our established partnerships".
The Portucel Soporcel group will be at stand D80 in Hall 3, where it will exhibit the Group's main office paper brands - Pioneer, Inacopia, Explorer, Target and Discovery - as well as Navigator, the global best-seller in the premium segment, featuring once again its solutions for the home market, Home Pack and On-the-Go.
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The brand will also unveil the Global Competition due for launch during the second half of January, aimed at young designers and design students, who will be invited to develop a new layout for Navigator Students. This is a product aimed at the student market and traditionally available during the back to school period, with a distinctive contemporary image, tailored to the needs of this younger target market.
Three winning designs will be chosen, and the main prize will consist of an Apple Macbook Pro and the chance to see their packaging design for Navigator Students marketed around Europe, offering a unique boost for their professional portfolio.
The competition will be run online from January 19thto March 31st2015 at www.navigatordreams.com,where designers can submit their entries and consult all the relevant information. Navigator's Facebook fans, now more than 36,000, will also have a chance to help choose the best entries, by voting for a shortlist of the 20 best entries, which will then be submitted to a panel of judges to choose the winners.
The Group will also take the opportunity offered by Paperworld to announce that the BLI seal of approval (Buyer's Laboratory Inc.) will from now on be featured on its main brands, thanks to the excellent results achieved by the Group's products in recent years at the world's most highly respected independent testing laboratory for printing equipment.
Significantly, these brands boast a full range of quality credentials, with certification from the FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council) and the PEFC™ (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes), as well as carrying the EU Ecolabel. Certification under all these schemes reflects the Portucel Soporcel group's recognised commitment to responsible and sustainable woodlands management, and provides a further guarantee of product quality and the sourcing of raw materials.
Paperworld 2015 has also been chosen as the venue for presenting the newly expanded Navigator range, which now features reels for plotter printers, with products ranging from 75 g.m2to 120 g.m2. These new additions will enable the brand to develop custom from professional users such as architects and designers, for whom paper quality is crucial when presenting their work to clients.
The range of plotter reels complements the varied Navigator product portfolio, which includes office paper, paper for pre-printing applications and envelopes, all with the same quality standards which combine to ensure unbeatable consistency.
The Group is committed to progressively expanding its geographical coverage at the same time as optimising its product mix in key markets, such as Europe and the United States. By exploiting the excellent penetration and awareness levels enjoyed by its own brands, and the perception of high quality standards in its value proposition, the Portucel Soporcel group sees Paperworld 2015
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as a further opportunity to keep on building its successful strategy which has established its brands as market leaders and by-words for innovation and environmental sustainability.
About the Portucel Soporcel group
The Portucel Soporcel group is Portugal's second leading exporter, and the exporter generating the highest level of national value added. The Group accounts for approximately 1% of Portugal's GDP, around 3% of the country's total exports of goods, close to 8% of all containerized cargo and 7% of all containerized and conventional cargo exported through Portuguese ports.
In 2013, the Portucel Soporcel group achieved new records for paper sales and output, consolidating its position as Europe's leading manufacturer of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper. The Group exported products worth €1 215 million and its turnover rose to € 1
530.6 million.
The leading European manufacturer, and the sixth largest in the world, of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper, the Group is also Europe's top producer of BEKP (Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp), and the fifth largest in the world.
The Group has successfully pursued a strategy of innovation and development of its own brands, which today account for 62% of sales of manufactured products. Special mention should be made of the Navigator brand, the world's best-selling product in the premium office paper segment.
The Group's sales are made to 127 countries over five continents, with Europe and the United
States as the two main destinations.
As a vertically integrated forestry group with its own forestry research institute, it leads the world in the genetic improvement of the Eucalyptus globulus. It manages vast tracts of forest in Portugal certified under the FSC® and PEFC™ systems (FSC license C010852 and PEFC license 13-23-001), and boasts annual production capacity for 1.6 million tons of paper, 1.4 million tons of pulp (of which 1.1 million is integrated into paper) and power generation of 2.5 TWh, adding up to annual turnover of approximately 1.5 billion euros.
The Group operates one of Europe's largest nurseries for forestry plants, with annual production capacity of approximately 12 million certified plants of various species, destined for use in renewing Portugal's woodlands.
In keeping with its strategy of international expansion, the Group is currently investing in a major vertically integrated forestry project in Mozambique, set to culminate in the construction of a cellulose pulp mill, a capital project worth 2.3 billion dollars, as well as a pellets factory in the USA.
www.portucelsoporcel.com
Forfurtherpressinformation,pleasecontact:Lift Consulting - 21 466 65 00
Joana Branquinho -joana.branquinho@lift.com.pt/ 91 318 43 02
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