FASTMARKETS RISI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Economist in the Paper Packaging Group
- Economist, Economic Analysis
Abdulla Zaid is an Economist in the Paper Packaging group at Fastmarkets RISI, with a focus on containerboard, boxboard, and other packaging papers. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Abdulla did policy analysis and econometric modeling for think tanks and consultancies in the US and Europe. His publications in development economics have been cited in reports from the World Bank, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, the International Labour Organization, and other think tanks. Abdulla has a Master's in Development Economics and Policy from the University of Manchester in the UK, and a Bachelor's degree, with a double major in Economics and Political Science, from St. Lawrence University in the US.
Job Titles:
- Director, Europe Packaging and Graphic Paper, Economic Analysis
Alejandro is responsible for client support and analytics for Fastmarkets RISI's European Forest Products team. Previously, Alejandro was a business analyst for a European fine paper producer. He has a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the Solvay Business School of Economics and Management in Brussels.
Job Titles:
- News Editor, PPI Europe, News, Markets & Prices, News, Markets & Prices
Andrea joined Fastmarkets RISI and the PPI Europe editorial team in Brussels in 2016. He covers news, market and price reporting for the graphic paper sector, including newsprint and mechanical paper grades, as well as for Italian containerboard. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, he worked for the Financial Times' Mandate Wire news service in London, where he covered institutional investor activity in multiple European countries and Mexico. Andrea has a Master's degree in journalism from the University of Barcelona and Columbia University NY in Barcelona. In addition to his native Italian, he is fluent in Spanish.
Job Titles:
- Market Analyst, Economic Analysis
Angela conducts analyses on the China recovered paper and pulp market. She contributes to the World Recovered Paper Monitor as well as special market analysis studies. She graduated from the Central University for Nationalities, Beijing where she earned her BA in Business Management with a focus on mathematics and statistics.
Job Titles:
- Senior News Editor, PPI Europe, News, Markets & Prices
Anne reports on prices and market trends within the western European containerboard and sack kraft markets, and covers breaking news for PPI Europe. Anne speaks French, German and Spanish. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Anne spent four years as a country risk analyst for a French consulting firm writing real-time, online security alerts and making recommendations to CAC 40 companies regarding their global development projects. Anne holds a master's degree in international and strategic studies.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Asian Paper & Packaging, Economic Analysis
Beth began her career at Fastmarkets RISI in 1995, as an economist analyzing Asian paper and board markets. Her work was instrumental in helping to develop and expand Fastmarket RISI's analysis of these markets, building Fastmarket RISI's extensive databases, developing Fastmarket RISI's price series, and forecasting for the Asian region. In 2006 she helped to open fastmarket RISI's Shanghai office. She currently is responsible for the Asian Paper Packaging and Asian Graphic paper forecasts and reports. Beth holds a Masters in Public Affairs (focusing on Economics and Public Policy) from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, USA and a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from Dartmouth College, USA.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Editor, News, Markets & Prices
Bryan has covered the global pulp industry since joining Fastmarkets RISI in 2000. In 2001, he established Fastmarkets RISI's US spot market coverage, which resulted in biweekly indexing of four key grades of market pulp in the decade since. Currently he provides market analysis and commentary on the North American market pulp industry as well as export markets and helps lead Fastmarkets RISI's editorial coverage of pulp globally. A career media professional, Bryan covered business and general interest news for the Associated Press, Reno Gazette-Journal, and PC World prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI.
Job Titles:
- Analyst, Mill Intelligence, Economic Analysis
Candice is responsible for doing cash cost analysis for Asian pulp and paper mills, especially boxboard and containerboard mills and for updating the Mill Asset Database and Cost Benchmarking Database. Before joining MI team, Candice worked as an analyst for Asian Packaging Paper team, performing data gathering/analysis, and assisting with monthly packaging commentaries and quarterly forecasts. She also generated annual Asian containerboard & boxboard capacity reports and provided support on special market projects. Candice joined Fastmarkets RISI's Beijing office in 2011. She holds a Master degree of Engineering in Pulp and Paper Technology from China National Pulp and Paper Research Institute and a bachelor degree of Engineering in Pulp and Paper Technology from Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, China.
Job Titles:
- Executive Editor, North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets, Timberland Market Reports, News, Markets & Prices
Chris joined Fastmarkets RISI in 1995 and serves as timber analyst, including including North American woodfiber, timberland and biomass markets and price reporting. His work is also the basis for the company's benchmarking and forecasting services in woodfiber and timberland. Chris co-founded International Woodfiber Report in 1995 and Timberland Market Reports in 2000, and is executive editor North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI in 1995, Lyddan owned a timber harvesting and log export business based in Virginia, founded in 1979. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Forestry from Virginia Tech.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Craig Murphy joined Random Lengths in 2016 after 18 years working for newspapers and websites, most recently two weekly newspapers in Oregon. He has a bachelor's degree in communications from Washington State University. His reporting assignments include eastern S-P-F; cedar; shakes & shingles; western plywood and covers news for labor; production/curtailments.
Dan Klein brings over twenty years of experience in the information market. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI and FOEX, Klein spent fifteen years at Forrester Research, Inc. and has held roles in business development, product management, strategy, and consulting.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Editor, News, Markets & Prices
Daniela has over ten years experience covering the Spanish market and international news. She is a native German speaker and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Job Titles:
- Editor, Nonwovens Markets, News, Markets & Prices
With over 30 years experience, Dave reports on the nonwovens market by gathering market intelligence on key market activities and conditions. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Dave spent 25 years as an industry executive, forecaster and consultant, working with manufacturers and their suppliers and customers. Dave has spoken at industry conferences in North America, Western Europe and Latin America.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Economic Analysis
David Fortin has been with Fastmarkets RISI since 2005. He spent his first seven years as a member of the Fiber Economic Analysis team and was responsible for specialty pulp coverage and assisted with the World Pulp Monthly, the five and fifteen year World Pulp and Recovered Paper Forecast and Dissolving Pulp Monitor. During his time on the Fiber team he was the author of the World Fluff Pulp Study and multiple single-client and mill risk studies. He joined the Wood Products Economic Analysis team in 2013 where he expanded the monthly structural panel model to cover the entire North American market and created the Dashboard that has been rolled out to all wood products commentaries. As part of the Wood Products team he completed a study on OSB Capacity Expansion and the Development of US Pellet Exports - Impacts on Woodfiber Supply and was the author of Fastmarkets RISI's monthly Lumber Commentary and five and fifteen year North American Lumber Forecast as well as co-author of the five and fifteen year Engineered Wood Products Forecast. He rejoined the Fiber team in 2018 and is the author of the World Pulp Monthly and five and fifteen year forecast. David has a master's degree in international economics and finance from the International Business School at Brandeis University and has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Job Titles:
- Analyst, Mill Intelligence
David joined Fastmarkets RISI in March 2002 and is responsible for researching, collecting and updating mill data and industry information for Fastmarkets RISI's Asset Database. He collects data from worldwide news contributors, the global Fastmarkets RISI editorial team, as well as various other sources like mill managers and suppliers to provide balanced and objective information. David is solely responsible for investigating and recording new projects at mills throughout the industries while also maintaining current information on existing projects for Fastmarkets RISI's Global Projects Database. David can be accredited with complete production of Fastmarkets RISI's Lockwood-Post Directory of Pulp & Paper Mills in the world and the development and production of Fastmarkets RISI Regional Mill Maps.
Job Titles:
- Price Reporter, News, Markets & Prices
Dayanne Sousa joined Fastmarkets RISI in early 2019 as price reporter covering the Latin American market, focusing on graphic papers and boxboard. Dayanne graduated in journalism at University of São Paulo and is specialized in financial and business news. She concluded in 2015 an MBA on financial information for journalists sponsored by B3, the Brazilian stock exchange. Prior to joining Fastmarkets, Dayanne worked as a reporter at one of Brazil's most important newsrooms, Broadcast/Agência Estado, where she covered the retail sector. Currently, Dayanne is also pursuing a her second diploma from University of São Paulo, at its Business school.
Job Titles:
- Senior Economist, Economic Analysis
Derek is the co-author of the monthly Paper Trader and the North American Graphic Paper Forecast, and also contributes to Fastmarkets RISI's recurring analysis of the Latin American and global graphic paper markets. He has completed several in-depth studies, including the Global Outlook for Woodfree Risk, Global Newsprint Risk of Closure and Impact of Media Tablets on Publication Paper Markets. Derek completed his undergraduate education at the University of Kansas, where he majored in Economics, and holds a Master's Degree in Economics from the University of Missouri.
Job Titles:
- Senior Economist, Economic Analysis
Dustin leads Fastmarkets RISI's lumber team with responsibility for analysis, consulting, and publications including Fastmarkets RISI's Lumber Commentary, North American Lumber 5-Year Forecast, and North American 15-Year Forecast. Prior to joining the lumber team, Dustin, provided support with forecasts and analyses related to the global packaging market, including single- and multi-client studies. Dustin worked on Fastmarkets RISI's fiber team, assisting with such publications as Fastmarkets RISI's World Pulp Monthly, the World Pulp and Recovered Paper Forecast, and the World Dissolving Pulp Monitor. He also contributed to several multi-client studies including the Outlook for the World Dissolving Pulp Market (2013) and the Outlook for the World Fluff Pulp Market (2014). Dustin holds a Master's Degree from Brandeis University in International Finance and Economics and a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Maine.
Echo Xu is responsible for covering China's recovered paper market. Since joining the UMPaper Shanghai office in 2014, she has earned a great reputation for her coverage of the turmoil in the recovered paper sector, and is now a regular speaker at industry events. Echo holds a master degree in pulp and paper engineering from Dalian Polytechnic University.
Job Titles:
- Principal, Tissue, Economic Analysis
With more than 30 years' experience in the global paper market, Esko's expertise lies in the tissue and recovered fiber markets. After working nearly 18 years for a large forest industry consulting company in Helsinki and Munich, Esko established EU Consulting, his own forest industry consulting company in 1994. In 2007, EU Consulting was merged with Fastmarkets RISI. Esko is the chief editor of Fastmarkets RISI's comprehensive studies on tissue business worldwide as well as carries out numerous private client projects.
Job Titles:
- Associate Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Gary Zauner joined Random Lengths upon the merger with Crow's, where he worked for 20 years, most recently as editor. He began a career in the forest products industry in 1981, where he worked for 11 years at various jobs, including sales and management. He then finished his bachelor's degree in English with a minor in professional writing from Portland State University, while still working intermittently within the industry.
Job Titles:
- Economist, Economic Analysis
Gleb conducts economic analysis of paper packaging markets in Europe, including analysis on industry supply/demand balances, trade dynamics and cost/price developments, forecasting and econometric modeling. He is an author of regular reports such as Paper Packaging Monitor Europe and European Paper Packaging 5- and 15-year Forecasts. Gleb is a frequent presenter at industry events and was involved in a number of ad-hoc client projects during his time at RISI. Previously, Gleb worked in the financial services industry. Before that, he had an internship at the United Nations, where he has assisted in the desk research. He has MSc in Business and Economics from Uppsala University and BSc in Economics from Mälardalen University in Sweden.
Job Titles:
- Executive Editor, IFPTA Journal and PPI Magazine, News, Markets & Prices
A native of Montreal, Graeme brings over 30 years experience covering the forest products industry. He joined Fastmarkets RISI in 2001, moving to Belgium to become Editor of PPI, and in 2007 assumed the duties of Editor of the IFPTA Journal. Over the years, Graeme has visited more than 200 pulp and paper mills worldwide and attended countless forest products industry events and conferences. Currently, he is based in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Job Titles:
- Managing Editor for PPI Pulp & Paper Week
- Managing Editor, PPI Pulp & Paper Week, News, Markets & Prices
Greg Rudder is managing editor for PPI Pulp & Paper Week. He covers the North American containerboard and kraft paper markets, and has done so since October 2018. He covered US and export recovered paper for 22 years through 3Q 2018, and during that period containerboard for seven years, uncoated freesheet for four years, and various other grades. A Pepperdine University graduate, he was a daily newspaper reporter for 12 years before joining PPI Pulp & Paper Week.
Job Titles:
- Senior Economist, Economic Analysis
Hannah joined Fastmarkets RISI in January 2009 as an economist on recovered paper. She is the coauthor of Fastmarkets RISI's special studies, Outlook for Global Recovered Paper Markets and The China Recovered Paper Market: A Comprehensive Analysis and Outlook, as well as the World Recovered Paper Monitor, the World Pulp & Recovered Paper 5-Year Forecast and the World Pulp & Recovered Paper 15-Year Forecast. Ms. Zhao holds a Master's degree in Resource Economics from University of Rhode Island.
Job Titles:
- Associate Economist, Economic Analysis
Hema Kalathingal currently authors Fastmarkets RISI's North American Bioenergy Forecast, which provides analysis and a 5-year forecast of the North American wood pellet, biomass power and cellulosic biofuels markets. She also supports the wood products team and contributes to the wood products monthly commentaries and medium- and long-term forecasts. Hema holds a master's degree in economics from HEC Lausanne in Switzerland, and a bachelor's degree in Engineering from Kerala University in India.
Job Titles:
- Senior News Editor, Boxboard ( PPI Pulp & Paper Week ) Editor, Fastmarkets RISI Global Online News, News, Markets & Prices
James McLaren has covered the forest products industry for 20 years. He is a senior editor for Fastmarkets RISI's PPI Pulp & Paper Week, mainly reporting on North American boxboard markets, and also serves as executive editor of Fastmarkets RISI's global online pulp and paper news service. A graduate of Rutgers University, he worked for daily newspapers in New Jersey before originally joining P&PW in 1989 under Miller Freeman. He joined Fastmarkets RISI in 2004, and covered wood products markets for Crow's newsletter before returning to P&PW in 2008. With Miller Freeman, James was launch editor of PPI Asia in Singapore in 1998 and co-founded International Woodfiber Report in 1995. He was co-chairman of the International Woodfiber Conference in 1996, the Southern Forest Industries Conference in 1997, and the first Wood Summit in 1998.
Job Titles:
- Associate Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Jeff Redd joined Random Lengths in 1995. Previously he was a newspaper reporter, most recently as sports editor for The Olympian, Olympia, Washington. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. His reporting assignments include green douglas fir; coast dry framing; OSB North/Canada, and covers news for engineered wood products; trade with Canada; retail market indicators; retail outlook.
Job Titles:
- Senior Economist in the Wood Products Group
- Senior Economist, Economic Analysis
Jennifer Coskren is a Senior Economist in the Wood Products group at Fastmarkets RISI. She has more than 15 years of professional experience in construction economics, macroeconomics, statistics and real estate research. She is the co-author of the monthly Structural Panel Commentary and five and fifteen year North American Structural Panel Forecasts. Before coming to Fastmarkets RISI in 2014, Jennifer worked at McGraw-Hill Construction and was responsible for maintaining and improving the national and regional construction models. She also developed new models to forecast state level housing starts and was behind the development and maintenance of the Dodge Momentum Index, a widely cited leading indicator of nonresidential construction spending. In addition, she provided consulting services, assisting clients with building models for individual company sales forecasting. Prior to returning to McGraw-Hill in 2001, Jennifer was employed by Bain & Company, where she did market research and statistical consulting. Jennifer has a bachelor's degree in economics from Regis College in Weston MA and holds a Master's Degree in Business Economics from Bentley University in Waltham MA.
Jennifer Liu is responsible for collecting and updating information on Asian graphic paper markets. She joined UMPaper in 2011 and is based in the Beijing office. Jennifer produces the UMPaper Graphic Paper report and also supports the Asian Pulp & Paper Monitor and Tissue Outlook. She has also contributed to the Asia Graphic Paper Forecast, Capacity Report and other products and studies. Jennifer holds a Master's degree of Pulp and Paper Engineering from South China University of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Senior News Editor, News, Markets & Prices
Jessica researches markets and prices for newsprint, fine paper, and packaging grades across Southeast Asia and India, while providing in-depth market coverage of Japan and South Korea. She also delivers focused news coverage of Oceania.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Joe Pruski joined Random Lengths in April 2017 after working as a newspaper reporter and editor for six years. Most recently, Pruski served as associate editor of the DeForest Times-Tribune, a weekly paper near Madison, Wis. His reporting assignments include inland dry framing; boards; euro boards; particleboard & MDF and covers news for futures; Yardnotes.
John North joined Fastmarkets RISI in July of 2017 as an economist covering the international timber markets. Prior to Fastmarkets RISI, he spent 6 years on active duty as an officer in the US Marine Corps, serving primarily in the Middle East and West Africa. Afterwards, he held a civilian role with the United Nations in Cote d'Ivoire before returning to graduate school in the US. John holds a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of Georgia.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Fastmarkets RISI Analytics
- Senior Vice President, Mill Intelligence
A 20+ year veteran of the forest products industry, Jon works out of Fastmarkets RISI's Atlanta office leading the global team of engineers and analysts who comprise the Mill Intelligence Services division. Jon was previously at Pöyry Management Consulting where he managed a technical strategy practice area. He has also worked in the corporate lending sector at GE Capital to provide financing to companies in this industry. Earlier in his career Jon held various process engineering and operations roles with several pulp and paper producers. He has a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with honors from The Pennsylvania State University.
Job Titles:
- Associate Analyst, Boxboard
Julia Huang collects pricing and other market information for the Asian boxboard market. Before joining UMPaper, she worked as an intern in Ipsos and Everbright Securities after her graduation from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in 2017.
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Economic Analysis
Ken has specialized in the paper packaging markets for Fastmarkets RISI since 1983. He provides detailed monthly and quarterly analysis and forecasts of the North American paper packaging markets as well as single- and multi-client studies. He developed Fastmarkets RISI's international containerboard and other packaging paper and board models for Latin America, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East. He also developed the Fastmarkets RISI end-use market analysis for the Paperboard Packaging Council's Trends Report on the US folding carton industry. Ken also manages Fastmarkets RISI's global packaging economic team, and directs the incorporation of the forecasts from North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America into Fastmarkets RISI's global reports. Ken holds a Master of Science degree in Forest Economics from Virginia Tech and his Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from LSU.
Job Titles:
- Economist
- Senior Economist, Economic Analysis
Kevin Conley has worked as an Economist for Fastmarkets RISI for over 15 years. He contributes to the World Graphic Paper Service, providing quarterly analysis and forecasts of the global graphic paper markets, and compiles Fastmarkets RISI's annual pulp & paper statistics.
Job Titles:
- Analyst, Mill Intelligence, Economic Analysis
Kevin Jiang is part of the Mill Intelligence team and is responsible for updating the Mill Asset Database and Cost Benchmarking Database for Asian pulp and paper mills. Before joining the MI team, Kevin was a project analyst and in charge of executing China pulp & paper market research, analyzing industry end-uses and writing reports on China graphic paper, packaging paper and board, recovered paper, tissue, dissolving pulp in different multi-client studies and single-client consulting work. Before joining Fastmarkets RISI, Kevin worked with Pacific Millennium Paper Group and China National Pulp and Paper Research Institute. He has a MBA degree from MUC and Bachelor degree in Pulp and Paper Technology from Qilu University of Technology, China.
Job Titles:
- Associate Editor, Nonwovens Markets, News, Markets & Prices
Before joining Fastmarkets RISI, Yan was an English editor and journalist in a Chinese government news agency for 7 years. She reports on Asian nonwovens markets, writing for such Fastmarkets RISI products as Nonwovens Markets, Nonwovens Company Profiles and www.nonwovens.com.
Job Titles:
- Director, Macroeconomics, Economic Analysis
Lasse joined Fastmarkets RISI in August 2017 from a foreign affairs post which he held for the past decade. Lasse's early career background was in forest products and he also worked in management consulting for Pöyry, IBM and Accenture. He has real-world insight into geopolitical economic analysis, international trade issues, country risk analysis, and the legal and regulatory environment, along with the forest products industry. Lasse holds Master's degrees in both Chemical Engineering and Economics and works out of Fastmarkets RISI's Helsinki office.
Lizzie Yu is responsible for collecting market information and reporting data for both pulp and tissue markets in China. She has 8 years' experience in market analysis and consulting.
Job Titles:
- Managing Editor Latin America, Fastmarkets RISI & Metal Bulletin, News, Markets & Prices
Marina manages the Latin American editorial team of Fastmarkets RISI and Metal Bulletin, taking care of pricing data for the pulp, graphic paper and boxboard markets, as well as reports trends and in-depth information about key moves by producers and buyers. Additionally, Marina provides insight into the general economy and how this affects the pulp and paper industry in Brazil and Latin America. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Marina has worked for two major Brazilian dailies O Estado de S. Paulo and Folha de S. Paulo, as well as spent four years reporting on the pulp & paper industry for the Brazilian Pulp and Paper Assn. (ABTCP). With over thirteen years in the industry, Marina has visited several mills in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico, deepening her understanding of pulp & paper engineering. She is the recipient of two journalism awards for her reporting on the Brazilian economy and three awards for her specific coverage in the pulp and paper sector. She holds a degree in journalism from Faculdade Cásper Líbero and an MBA in Economics and Capital Market by the Brazilian stock exchange B³.
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Fastmarkets RISI Indices
- Senior Vice President, Fastmarkets RISI Indices, News, Markets & Prices
Matt Graves heads up Fastmarkets RISI's information business for the pulp and paper sector. This includes Fastmarkets RISI's News, Markets & Prices, Forecast & Analysis and Mill Intelligence. Matt has worked for over 10 years at Fastmarkets RISI with a focus on the global pulp and paper industry. He manages commercial activities with Fastmarkets RISI clients globally and travels extensively in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has also led a number of consulting engagements with key clients in Europe and Asia. Matt received an MBA from Boston University in 1999.
Job Titles:
- Senior Analyst, Containerboard
Melissa Chen oversees analysis of the packaging paper and board market as well as the characteristics and applications of major grades. Since joining UMPaper at the Beijing office in 2011, she has closely monitored the dynamics in the industry and those along the supply chain. Melissa has previously worked for Guangdong Lee & Man Paper and Dongguan Jintian Paper. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Pulp and Paper from Shaanxi University of Science and Technology in China.
Job Titles:
- Economist, Economic Analysis
Minnie's primary responsibility is market analysis of pulp in Asia and producing China pulp market updates. Minnie also helps with the preparation of World Pulp Monthly, the quarterly forecasts, and special market analysis studies. She gives consultations and presentations to pulp producers and financial institutions. She holds a Masters degree of Economics from the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Beijing.
Job Titles:
- Editor, PPI Asia, News, Markets & Prices
Nick manages the PPI Asia editorial team and reports on the Asian pulp and recovered paper markets, and has been with Fastmarkets RISI for nearly 20 years. He speaks Mandarin Chinese, the Chinese dialect Hokkien, English and reads Japanese.
Job Titles:
- Economist, Economic Analysis
Patrick Cavanagh contributes to all Pulp publications including World Pulp Monthly, the Monthly Economic Commentary, the World Dissolving Pulp Monitor, and the World Pulp & Recovered Paper Forecast. He also provide support on special studies. Pat holds a Master of Science in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island and was the recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Master's Thesis Award from the Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association.
Job Titles:
- Associate Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Pete Malliris joined Random Lengths in January 2000. Previously he worked for 13 years as a reporter and editor for several newspapers in Oregon. Malliris graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1984. His reporting assignments include eastside & central SYP; treated SYP; OSB south and covers news for imports/exports, international markets; transportation/freight rates.
Job Titles:
- Principal Economist, Economic Analysis
Peter Barynin's specialties include natural resource price modeling, forest industry and timber markets, and international trade. Peter has over 20 years of experience servicing the forest industry, primarily as an economist. Peter currently authors Fastmarkets RISI's North American Timber Forecast, World Timber Price Quarterly, World Pulpwood Study and World Sawlog Study. His current activities include leading the development of Fastmarkets RISI's timberland valuation models, forest stand models, and timber price forecasts. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI in 2008, Peter worked as an executive for the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), where he recommended and administered government financing related to industry restructuring initiatives. With the MNR, Peter also held the position of Timber Pricing Specialist, setting the prices for all Crown timber sold from Ontario's 22 million acres of forestlands. Peter taught at Harvard University in 1996, leading the curriculum in Environmental Economic Assessment Methodology in the Kennedy School of Government.
Job Titles:
- Associate Economist, Latin American Pulp, Paper & Packaging, Economic Analysis
- RISI in 2019 As the Latin America Economist
Rafael Barisauskas joined RISI in 2019 as the Latin America Economist, analyzing pulp, paper, and packaging regional markets. Rafael has a deep understanding of commodities' global trade, having worked with economic forecasts since 2013. Rafael has a strong academic and quantitative background, having been awarded merit scholarships for his BA in Economics in Brazil and the Best Student Award in his course.
Job Titles:
- Senior News Editor for PPI Pulp & Paper Week
- Senior News Editor, PPI Pulp & Paper Week, News, Markets & Prices
Renata Mercante is a senior news editor for PPI Pulp & Paper Week. She covers the North American graphic paper markets, and has done so since March 2019. Before that, she covered news, prices and market developments in all over Latin America for over 12 years, including pulp, recovered paper, packaging and graphic paper. Renata joined Fastmarkets RISI as Editor of PPI Latin America in September 2006, when the company opened its Latin American office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. During her time in the industry, she has interviewed many of the CEOs at the leading pulp and paper companies and visited many pulp, paper and packaging plants. She also assists with Fastmarkets RISI conferences and other special events. She speaks fluent Portuguese, English and Spanish and has a working knowledge of Italian and French. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, Renata spent five years working for ABTCP, the Brazilian pulp and paper technical association, covering the Latin American pulp and paper market for the O Papel magazine. She holds a degree in journalism and communications from the Casper Libero University in Sao Paulo and also in law at Ibirapuera University in Sao Paulo.
Job Titles:
- Analyst, Asian Packaging Paper and Board
Rianto Wirar provides research to support RISI's Asian packaging forecasts and analysis. He joined Fastmarkets RISI's Shanghai office in 2017, and previously worked at CEIC in Indonesia as a Financial Analyst/Economist. Rianto is originally from Indonesia and speaks multiple languages. He has a Bachelors in Economics and Finance from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Singapore Branch) and is studying Chinese at the Technical School, Shanghai China.
Rita Yao covers the Chinese pulp and paper industry and related news. With 10 years of experience, she reports on a variety of grades inside China including newsprint, printing and writing paper, containerboard, and cartonboard. She is responsible for writing and editing Chinese-language industry news for the UMPaper website and WeChat account, and she also contributes news stories to PPI Asia.
Job Titles:
- Chief Economic Advisor, Economic Analysis
Rod Young started modeling and forecasting in the pulp and paper industry in 1977. Since then, his work in international pulp and paper markets has received worldwide recognition. Rod now consults on a regular basis with companies throughout the world. He continues to assist in the development of the Fastmarkets RISI analysis and forecast of the world pulp and paper market, along with working on individual projects. In addition, Rod is the primary person responsible for the Fastmarkets RISI analysis of the global dissolving pulp market. Rod became Chief Economic Advisor for Fastmarkets RISI in 2010, after serving for four years as the company CEO and then Chairman. His role includes integrating economic analysis across the different divisions of Fastmarkets RISI. Rod received a Master of Science degree in Forestry Economics from Virginia Polytechnical Institute in 1977 and also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry from Michigan State University.
Job Titles:
- Product Manager
- Product Manager, Mill Intelligence
Ryan is the product manager for Fastmarkets RISI's cost benchmarking service that oversees maintenance, updates, and improvements made to the Analytical Cornerstone application. He also researches and compiles regional cost data for pulp and paper markets globally, while focusing his benchmarking analysis on North American and Latin American mills.
Job Titles:
- Senior Product Manager, Mill Intelligence, Mill Intelligence
Sampsa Veijalainen leads Fastmarkets RISI's Asian Mill Intelligence team, which maintains a comprehensive database of the region's pulp and paper mills. His area of expertise is mill cost competitiveness analysis, providing clients with detailed mill cash manufacturing costs as well as investment and capital cost estimates. During his eight years with the company, he has specialized in the analysis of graphic papers, pulp, packaging and specialty papers. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI, he worked in various manufacturing and R&D positions at pulp and paper mills in Europe and Latin America. He holds a Master's Degree in Pulp and Paper Technology from Aalto University in Finland.
Job Titles:
- Director, UMPaper, News, Markets & Prices
Sarah Feng is in charge of the UMPaper analysis team in China. With over 14 years' experience in the industry, she has in-depth insight into China's pulp and paper markets, Since joining UMPaper in 2007, Sarah has contributed her expertise and editorial skills to many projects, including the China Factbook, the China Containerboard Report, and numerous studies of the Chinese recovered paper market.
Job Titles:
- Senior Analyst, Mill Intelligence, Mill Intelligence
Sarah is currently responsible for the cost competitiveness analysis of Asian mills and mainly focuses on tissue, graphic paper and pulp millsbegan her career at Fastmarkets RISI in 2012 as a cost benchmarking analyst in the Mill Intelligence team that maintains the Mill Asset Database and Cost Benchmarking Database of global pulp and paper mills. Sarah holds a Master and Bachelor's degree in Pulp & Paper Technology from Tianjin University of Science and Technology in China.
Job Titles:
- Price Assessment Manager, News, Markets & Prices
Sharon joined Fastmarkets RISI in 2017. She has a long history in price reporting having previously worked as an energy market reporter, managing editor and editorial director of European power and gas for Platts in London. Sharon works closely with Fastmarkets RISI's SVP of Indices Matt Graves to improve the reliability of our price assessments and develop new ways of assessing prices. She manages central price assessment functions and oversees price and methodology development across Fastmarkets RISI, Fastmarkets FOEX and Random Lengths. Sharon holds a bachelor's degree in modern languages (German and Russian), with specialist modules in European literature and economics. She also speaks fluent French.
Job Titles:
- Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Shawn Church has been covering markets for Random Lengths since 1990. Before joining the company, he was a business reporter covering the timber and wood products industry in Roseburg, Oregon. He is a 1983 graduate of Oregon State University, with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in resource conservation. He was named editor of Random Lengths in 2003 following the retirement of veteran editor Burrle Elmore. His reporting assignments include western S-P-F; veneer, and covers news for housing/monetary and timber supply/resource issues.
Job Titles:
- Associate Editor, PPI Asia, News, Markets & Prices, News, Markets & Prices
Shawn delivers news coverage of graphic paper, packaging board and tissue in China. She also provides monthly Chinese paper and board price report for PPI Asia. She holds a MA degree in journalism from the University of Sheffield, and was previously a market analyst with UM Paper and Asia Pulp & Paper.
Job Titles:
- Product Manager, Mill Intelligence
Sheila developed Fastmarkets RISI's Asset Database, which provides global company, mill and projects data. She also developed Fastmarkets RISI's new Pulp & Paper Company Profiles database. In addition, Sheila oversees improvements and continued data updates to these applications.
Job Titles:
- Economist, Economic Analysis
Joining Fastmarkets RISI in 2013, Steven is the latest addition to Fastmarkets RISI's wood products analysis team. He contributes to the analysis of all North American wood products including lumber, structural and non-structural panels, and engineered wood products. Steven has three years of professional financial modeling experience at a large regional bank and five years total experience in the banking industry. He holds a master's degree in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis University International Business School and a bachelor's degree in Economics, International Business, and Business Management he earned from Whitworth University School of Global Commerce and Management.
Job Titles:
- Editor, PPI Europe, News, Markets & Prices
Steven brings more than 10 years of international journalism experience to Fastmarkets RISI where he reports on the European pulp market. Steven oversees the editorial side of the weekly newsletter PPI Europe, and writes in-depth reports on the European pulp market. Prior to joining Fastmarkets RISI in 2010, he covered business and political news in Central Europe for the Interfax news agency and launched and ran a trade publication for the European security industry.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Editor, Random Lengths, News, Markets & Prices
Ted Shorack joined Random Lengths in 2016 after working for newspapers in Oregon. He has a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Oregon. His reporting assignments include westside SYP; shop; southern plywood and covers news for financial results.
Job Titles:
- Analyst With Fastmarkets RISI 's Mill Intelligence Team
- Analyst, Mill Intelligence
Tero is an analyst with Fastmarkets RISI's Mill Intelligence Team. He is responsible for analyzing corrugated board assets, cost benchmarking pulp and paper mills in the EMEA area and delivery cost estimates, as well as various tasks related to cost benchmarking analyses. He has worked in different paper and pulp mills. Tero joined Fastmarkets RISI's Helsinki office in 2012 and finished his master's thesis on corrugated board in 2015 in co-operation with Fastmarkets RISI.
Job Titles:
- Senior Product Manager, Mill Intelligence
Ville conducts cash manufacturing cost studies of global pulp and paper mills to estimate their cost competitiveness in specific markets, such as European packaging and fine paper grades. Since joining Fastmarkets RISI in 2005, Ville has worked on various cash manufacturing cost analyses, using proven methodology to estimate cost competitiveness of pulp and paper mills.
Job Titles:
- Senior Editor
- Executive Editor, North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets, News, Markets & Prices
William Perritt is a Senior Editor for Fastmarkets RISI, serving as Executive Editor for Fastmarkets RISI's North American Woodfiber & Biomass Markets, News Editor for International Woodfiber Report, and editor of Log Lines. He also produces Fastmarkets RISI's North American and European Wood Biomass Project databases. Perritt has covered pulpwood market news with IWR since its first issue in 1995, and launched WBMR in 2008. His efforts include regular contact with industry sources to construct real-world North American monthly market reviews in the pulpwood and wood biomass realms, analyzing price trends and market drivers for those raw materials. Perritt is a graduate of Emory & Henry College with a degree in print journalism. He is on the Forest Resources Association's Board of Directors and is a member of the West Virginia Forestry Association.
Job Titles:
- Director, Graphic Paper, Mill Intelligence
Bill conducts competitive cost studies of global pulp and paper mills producing graphic papers, including coated and uncoated, woodfree and mechanical grades. In addition, Bill conducts single-client and multi-client specialty paper studies, as well as consulting projects which include due diligence, strategic assessment and mill optimization studies.