OTHER NEWS - March 5, 1996

Weyerhaueser Cuts Pulp Prices: Weyerhaeuser Co., the largest supplier of wood pulp in the world, said it cut pulp prices 17% this month, another sign that slumping forest-product prices have yet to hit bottom. Weyerhaeuser said it lowered its reference price for northern bleached softwood kraft pulp--an industry benchmark--to $600 a metric ton from $725 a ton, effective March 1. Northern softwood pulp hit an all-time high of about $1,000 a metric ton in the third quarter of last year when pulp and paper prices were soaring along with the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, newsprint producer Fletcher Challenge Canada Ltd. has told publishers it won’t implement a planned 7% increase for newsprint in April.