Paper machine set for Ashdown restart
Domtar Corp., which operates a paper mill in Ashdown, said Thursday that it will restart a paper machine that was shut down in August.
The A62 paper machine will resume full operation in January after a few months of ramping up production again, Domtar said in a news release. The company said restarting the machine will cost about $10 million but will add 185,000 tons of uncoated freesheet capacity to its production network.
A portion of the increased paper capacity may be utilized to increase thermal-coated paper capacity at Domtar's West Carrolton, Ohio, facility to meet improving demand for its thermal point-of-sale paper, Domtar said.
"As the economy begins to recover from the pandemic, the demand for paper is also recovering," Rob Melton, a senior vice president, said.
The Ashdown facility also produces fluff pulp and has the potential to produce containerboard and other packaging products.
Paper Excellence in Richmond, British Columbia, announced in May that it had purchased Domtar for $3 billion, all in cash.
-- Stephen Steed
Pfizer to pay $345M over EpiPen cost rise
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Pfizer Inc. and two of its subsidiaries have agreed to pay $345 million under a proposed settlement to resolve lawsuits over EpiPen price increases.
In documents filed Thursday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., New York-based Pfizer and its subsidiaries Meridian Medical Technologies Inc. and King Pharmaceuticals in Tennessee, asked the court to grant preliminary approval to the settlement, Kansas City's NPR station KCUR-FM reported.
The litigation dates to 2016, when numerous class-action lawsuits were filed around the country alleging that the companies engaged in anticompetitive conduct related to EpiPen. The cases were transferred to the Kansas court because of its centralized location.
Mylan owns the rights to the EpiPen brand, but the devices are manufactured by Pfizer. EpiPens, used to deliver the drug epinephrine, are for emergency treatment of anaphylaxis, an acute allergic reaction.
In 2007, an EpiPen package cost about $100. They now cost more than $650 without pharmacy coupons or discounts.
-- The Associated Press
Arkansas Index slips 0.66, ends at 628.48
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Thursday at 628.48, down 0.66.
"Energy and technology stocks underperformed as stocks opened lower this morning following reports of slowing Chinese growth along with investors' concerns regarding the pace of the U.S. economic recovery," said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.