<B>Port of Baltimore Lands Deal with Paper Companies</B>

Two Finnish companies, UPM-Kymmene and Metsa-Serla agreed to move a minimum of 550,000 tons of paper through the Port of Baltimore each year over the next five years.

The deal will essentially double the amount of paper the companies will ship through the port each year.

UPM signed a commitment to ship 440,000 tons per year through the port, while Metsa-Serla’s commitment is for 110,000 tons.

The two companies ship coated paper to the U.S. The cargo will be be handled at two of the port's terminals, North Locust Point and South Locust Point. BalTerm, a Baltimore-area stevedore, will discharge the cargo.

The cargo will stored at existing warehouses and will also result in construction of a new, 250,000 square foot shed.

While final figures are not available, Johnson said that Baltimore handled somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million metric tons of pulp and paper last year. Pulp shipments from Brazil are expected to increase 10-15% annually, he said, in part because environmental laws which make it difficult to add capacity in the U.S. Most of the Brazilian pulp is carried by the Norwegian company Star Shipping. Journal of Commerce