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Catalyst Paper aims for Latin American market with lighter newsprint

Catalyst Paper has introduced a high-performing newsprint grade with an industry-leading basis weight of only 40 grams per square metre (gsm). The company says the lighter grade, Marathon Lite, will be a major step forward in its Latin American…

Catalyst Paper has introduced a high-performing newsprint grade with an industry-leading basis weight of only 40 grams per square metre (gsm). The company says the lighter grade, Marathon Lite, will be a major step forward in its Latin American market development strategy.

“Latin America is a market of 500 million people which makes it very attractive. We have long-standing relationships with major publishers in the region and the demand for reliable supply of high quality papers is trending up,” says Catalyst president and CEO Kevin J. Clarke. He will be meeting with several key customers in the region in April, including publishers in Peru and Colombia.

Catalyst cites a growing middle class and less high-speed Internet penetration than Canada and the U.S. as reasons for its interest in the region. According to the company, Central and South American newspapers are still the most popular vehicle for information. Growth in middle-class disposable income also means advertisers want space in those popular papers.

Marathon Lite “reinforces our focus on innovation in every part of our business including in newsprint, a product that we’ve been manufacturing for 100 years,” Clarke adds.

Hugo Holmann, owner of the Nicaraguan publisher La Prensa, says readers and advertisers have noticed an improvement in the printing quality of our newspaper since the company switched to Catalyst. “We also see a great opportunity of improvement with the 40-gsm sheet. This brings more efficiency to our distribution chain all the way to the very end, allowing our street vendors to carry less weight, without affecting our production efficiency.”

Catalyst Paper manufactures diverse specialty mechanical printing papers, newsprint and pulp at three mills in British Columbia.