All grades of paper are in fairly good shape--what does this mean for capital projects?

February 15, 2025

What will tariffs do to capital project budgets?

What will tariffs do to capital projects in the United States?

Likely nothing good.

And likely there is little you can do about them, for in the fine print of your existing contract, either as a specific clause or as force majeure, you are going to pay for them.

That is the simple thinking.

What else can they do?

They might turn plans for steel buidings into plans for concrete buildings.

It might turn into a plan to look for domestic valves, motors, and other components.

Tariffs put everything on the table.

What is your opinion? Drop me a line at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. I would like to hear from you.

And further by the way, I come to mills and talk to various departments about many subjects. To arrange my custom visit to your mill, just email me at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com or call me at 678-206-6010.

Young Engineering Manager of the Year, call for nominations

We are looking for an individual who has done an extraordinary project, one that almost defies belief. Its extraordinary features can be schedule, technology, cost or all three. There is an age limit on the manager eligible for this award: they must be under 35 years old when they completed the project.

We have often gotten nominees that go something like this, "I nominate Joe because he has done a great job of running our engineering department for the last fifteen years." Quite frankly, we are not interested in such nominees.

However, if you know someone who has led a very exceptional project in the recent past (the last two or three years) and meets our age requirement, we want to know about it. We want to honor them and hold them up as an example for Engineering Managers in every pulp and paper mill around the world.

Just send your nomination, with as much details as you can provide, to jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. We will seriously consider it.

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Please write when we tickle your brain cells! Email jthompson@taii.com