Company Interview Excerpt
GEORGE H. GLATFELTER II - P.H. GLATFELTER COMPANY (GLT)
Full article published: 07/19/1999
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Mr. Glatfelter: I'll start with a broad perspective, and then try to narrow it down to what it means to the Glatfelter company. The paper industry is today obviously a global industry, and it's very clear to me that it's an industry that's experiencing a great deal of change. This change is driven by the fact that over the decade of the 90s the North American paper industry has pretty dramatically underperformed the expectations of its investor base. Also, there's been a high volume of additional paper capacity, produced in the emerging economies of the world, specifically the Pacific Rim and South America. As a result, a fundamental oversupply of paper exists within the world today. In this business, it goes back to fiber if you can procure it cheaply, and convert it cheaply, you've got a clear, competitive advantage. And that's really an advantage to the paper industry that has developed in the emerging parts of the world. As a result, they can produce paper on a commodity scale more cheaply than their U.S. counterparts. For this reason, in my view, the base of power for the forest products industry in North America will eventually shift to other parts in the world. I believe, the big players in the industry are consolidating assets and developing strategy to deal with this kind of competition on a commodity level. The commodity producers are getting bigger, stronger, better aligned, if you will. However, that's not the market in which the Glatfelter Company participates. As I mentioned earlier, we're a small player. Our strategy is to develop a very clear focus on market niches which meet our unique production capabilities, and which we feel we're uniquely qualified and prepared to serve. To boil all that down, we look for niche markets that have a degree of technical complexity, or other barriers to entry such as unique fibers, or markets that require high levels of service and dedication. From our point of view, as the industry evolves, there will emerge a group of very large low-cost global commodity producers. On the other hand, there will be a distinct opportunity for highly specialized niche players, much smaller, but infinitely more nimble and able to penetrate the kind of markets that I just described. The Glatfelter company clearly falls into the later category, and it's our strategy to differentiate ourselves from the remainder of the industry by virtue of the kind of products that we produce, and the level of profitability we generate from producing those products.
Tickers included in this excerpt: GLT
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