BRUSSELS, September 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest product industry, today published the PPI Top 100, its annual ranking of companies in the pulp and paper sector. The report appears in the September issue of Pulp & Paper International (PPI) magazine and on the RISI.com website and lists the top companies of pulp and paper in the world.

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For the 2011 edition, once again, International Paper (IP) heads the PPI Top 100. The list is based on the net sales of pulp, paper, converting and merchanting (PPCM) operations for the fiscal year 2010. IP beat its closest competitor, Procter & Gamble (P&G), with PPCM net sales of $24,959 million compared with P&G's $14,736 million. Sales figures for both companies are up slightly over 2009 levels.

Overall, the listing did not have as much swing as in previous years. The top 10 remained although in a slightly different order. Stora Enso moved up to third from fifth. Oji dropped down a spot to fourth. Nippon Paper rounded out the top five, up from sixth a year ago. In order, the rest of the Top 10 were: SCA, UPM, Kimberly-Clark, Smurfit-Kappa and Mondi.

As perhaps can be expected, Chinese companies continued their climb up the sales ladder. Nine Dragons led the way moving into No. 31 on the list with PPCM sales of $2,647 million. This is the highest post a Chinese company has ever held in the listings. It also marks a big climb for Nine Dragons, which was No. 39 on the list in 2010 and 44 in 2009.

In an encouraging sign compared with the past two years, PPCM sales for the top 100 companies showed an increase of nearly 10% to almost $304,000 million. Paper and board production also moved up in 2010 following two years of decline. Production topped 199 million tonnes in 2010, compared with 187.5 million tonnes in 2009. Market pulp also showed some growth, up by about five million tonnes to 43.9 million tonnes.

The Million Tonners Club (a list of the companies producing over one million tonnes of paper and board) also showed an increase in membership in 2010, up by two companies to 57 with Billerud and Shandong Bohui Paper joining the club.

The annual PPI Top 100 is available for free on the RISI website. The report from the September issue of PPI magazine can be accessed at: http://www.risi.com/top100. In addition to the Top 100 article, PDFs of all the tables that relate to the report, which provide access to comparable sales data, earnings for 2009 and 2010, total assets, and production figures for pulp, paper and board are also available.

About RISI

RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. The company works with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, timber, biomass, tissue, nonwovens, printing and publishing industries to help them make better decisions.

Headquartered in Boston, MA, RISI operates additional offices throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. More information can be found at http://www.risi.com.

Contact:
Jennifer Plourde
Associate Marketing Manager
RISI
Tel: +1-781-734-8917
jplourde@risi.com

SOURCE RISI