BOSTON, November 11 /PRNewswire/ --

RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced the addition of new global pulp data to their Analytical Cornerstone Cost Benchmarking Software platform.

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We continue to enhance the potency of the Analytical Cornerstone platform, this time with the addition of dryer-level data to complement the mill listings of our market pulp line, noted Surya P. Raina, Vice-President of Mill Intelligence.

Mr. Raina added, As market pulp prices continue to fall and downtime at mills increases, this new data provides a powerful means for pulp and paper companies to make effective strategic plans through a greater understanding of the relationship between manufacturing costs, capacities and market prices.

RISI's global pulp cost benchmarking data includes manufacturing cost details for 183 key mills producing market pulp in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. This data is a part of the Analytical Cornerstone platform, a suite of manufacturing cost data including single grade-specific data for various pulp, paper and select wood grades, customized reports and the complete Analytical Cornerstone database.

Analytical Cornerstone is a software tool that supports more effective strategic and operational decision-making by offering users the ability to access customizable data and run unique scenarios, thereby aiding them in gaining valuable insight into machine/dryer, mill and industry performance.

With market pulp's integral nature to the industry, having the current manufacturing costs allows companies to remain at their most competitive, Mr. Raina elaborated. Mr. Raina believes RISI continues to offer the most effective and timely cost benchmarking resources to aid companies in adjusting to the freefall of market pulp prices by better understanding manufacturing cost impact.

For specific information on RISI's market pulp cost benchmarking data, visit www.risiinfo.com/pulp. A complete listing of all RISI cost benchmarking products and methodology can be found at www.risiinfo.com/benchmarking, by contacting David Rosenberg at +1-770-373-3028 (in North America) or Tea Tuuli at +32-2-536-0743 (outside North America).

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, tissue, nonwovens, printing and publishing industries to help them make better decisions.

Headquartered in Boston (Bedford), Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Charlottesville, Virginia. More information can be found at www.risiinfo.com.

Contact: Christopher Pierdominici Product Marketing Manager RISI 4 Alfred Circle Bedford, MA 01730 Tel: +1-781-734-8992 E-mail: cpierdominici@risiinfo.com

Christopher Pierdominici, Product Marketing Manager of RISI, +1-781-734-8992, cpierdominici@risiinfo.com ; Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080521/NEW122LOGO, AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org, PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com