Estimated impacts of the sulphur directive on the Nordic industry

Introduction The International Maritime Organization and the European Parliament (EP) have stated that ships must lower sulphur emissions significantly in a specific region in Northern Europe, that is, in the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA), where sulphur content in bunkers is not allowed to exceed 0.1 percent. The Nordic companies have been examined somewhat marginally from the point of view of the SECA-directive, and how it will affect the cost-efficiency of the industry. Document type: Articl

Economic Geographical Analysis of The Finnish Paper Industry

The purpose of this academic economic geographical dissertation is to study and describe how competitiveness in the Finnish paper industry has developed during 2001–2008. During these years, the Finnish paper industry has faced economically challenging times. This dissertation attempts to fill the existing gap between theoretical and empirical discussions concerning economic geographical issues in the paper industry. The main research questions are: How have the supply chain costs and margins developed during 2001–2008? How do sales prices, transportation, and fixed and variable costs correlate with gross margins in a spatial context? The research object for this case study is a typical large Finnish paper mill that exports over 90 % of its production. The economic longitudinal research data were obtained from the case mill’s controlled economic system and, correlation (R2) analysis was used as the main research method. The time series data cover monthly economic and manufacturing observations from the mill from 2001 to 2008. The study reveals the development of prices, costs and transportation in the case mill, and it shows how economic variables correlate with the paper mills’ gross margins in various markets in Europe. The research methods of economic geography offer perspectives that pay attention to the spatial (market) heterogeneity. This type of research has been quite scarce in the research tradition of Finnish economic geography and supply chain management. This case study gives new insight into the research tradition of Finnish economic geography and supply chain management and its applications. As a concrete empirical result, this dissertation states that the competitive advantages of the Finnish paper industry were significantly weakened during 2001–2008 by low paper prices, costly manufacturing and expensive transportation. Statistical analysis expose that, in several important markets, transport costs lower gross margins as much as decreasing paper prices, which was a new finding. Paper companies should continuously pay attention to lowering manufacturing and transporting costs to achieve more profitable economic performance. The location of a mill being far from markets clearly has an economic impact on paper manufacturing, as paper demand is decreasing and oversupply is pressuring paper prices down. Therefore, market and economic forecasting in the paper industry is advantageous at the country and product levels while simultaneously taking into account the economic geographically specific dimensions.Siirretty Doriast

Applying mass spectrometric methods to study androgen biosynthesis and metabolism in prostate cancer

Recent development of gas chromatography and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS, LC-MS/MS) has provided novel tools to define sex steroid concentrations. These new methods overcome several of the problems associated with immunoassays for sex steroids. With the novel MS-based applications we are now able to measure small concentrations of the steroid hormones reliably and with high accuracy in both body fluids and tissue homogenates. The sensitivity of the tandem mass spectrometry assays allows us also for the first time to reliably measure picomolar or even femtomolar concentrations of estrogens and androgens. Furthermore, due to a high sensitivity and specificity of MS technology, we are also able to measure low concentrations of steroid hormones of interest in the presence of pharmacological concentration of other steroids and structurally closely related compounds. Both of these features are essential for multiple preclinical models for prostate cancer. The MS assays are also valuable for the simultaneous measurement of multiple steroids and their metabolites in small sample volumes in serum and tissue biopsies of prostate cancer patients before and after drug interventions. As a result, novel information about steroid hormone synthesis and metabolic pathways in prostate cancer has been obtained. In our recent studies, we have extensively applied a GC-MS/MS method to study androgen biosynthesis and metabolism in VCaP prostate cancer xenografts in mice. In the present review, we shortly summarize some of the benefits of the GC-MS/MS and novel LC-MS/MS assays, and provide examples of their use in defining novel mechanisms of androgen action in prostate cancer.Peer reviewe

Sulphur Directive – A New Long-Term Cost Driver for Nordic Export Industry

EU Directive of MARPOL Annex VI and its economic impact on the Nordic paper industry is theme of this research work. Empirical data for analysis purposes was gained from a large Nordic paper mill that exports bulk products mainly to Europe (70 % of its volume). The study shows that in the end the industry&rsquo;s location still has an economical effect, and that the location has a distinct impact on competition through rising transportation costs. Environmental regulation continues and fosters long-term upwards trajectory of transportation cost, which has been experienced by the paper mill earlier during years 2001-2009.&nbsp;</p

Reviewing Truck Logistics: Solutions for Achieving Low Emission Road Freight Transport

Low emission logistics have become an expected and desired goal in all fields of transportation, particularly in the European Union. Heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) are significant producers of emissions and pollution in inland transports. Their role is significant, as in multimodal transport chains truck transportation is, in most cases, the only viable solution to connect hinterlands with ports. Diesel engines are the main power source of trucks and their emission efficiency is the key challenge in environmentally sound freight transportation. This review paper addresses the academic literature focusing on truck emissions. The paper relies on the preliminary hypothesis that simple single solutions are nonexistent and that there will be a collection of suggestions and solutions for improving the emission efficiency in trucks. The paper focuses on the technical properties, emission types, and fuel solutions used in freight logistics. Truck manufacturing, maintenance, and other indirect emissions like construction of road infrastructure have been excluded from this review. </p

Economics of a Nordic paper mill–case study.

Purpose – The aim of this case study is to reveal the development of prices, costs and logistics in the case mill and how do these variables correlate with profits and finally to give suggestions for improvements.   Design/methodology/approach – We selected a typical Finnish paper mill as the basis for the case study. The mill data contains complete years from 2001 to 2007 on a monthly level. The data was obtained from the mill’s economic system and transferred to Excel. Statistica 4.1 was used to run the statistical correlation analyses. The results can be generalized with certain limitations to paper manufacturing located far from its customers.   Findings – This paper reveals an important insight on the economics of the Finnish paper industry. From theory building point of view, our empirical process data brings out, that the variation in the production lines were minimal, but there are big variations in paper deliveries, There are a lot to gain in the logistics processes. Larger volumes of the delivered tons also tend to increase profits. From the mill to the consignees, fluctuations in the process and paper sales grow substantially, which indicate longer storage times.   Research limitations/implications – The results of the case study are based on the data of one large integrated paper mill in Finland covering the years 2001-2007, so the results cannot be directly generalised to all Nordic paper mills. In May 2005, there was an industrial blackout, which affected considerably the production and deliveries from all the Finnish paper mills during that year.   Practical implications – The competitive advantages of the Finnish paper industry are weakened by the low paper prices and costly logistics. The mill managers should focus more on the overcapacity and cost issues and also deliver volumes, which all could contribute higher profits.     Originality/value – In this paper we study the Finnish paper industry together with time series, economic geography and statistical tools. This approach is a novel method and gives new insight for this research object. We study the mill’s economic variables as paper prices, profits and logistics and manufacturing costs and the characteristics of these issues in the spatial context. Purpose – The aim of this case study is to reveal the development of prices, costs and logistics in the case mill and how do these variables correlate with profits and finally to give suggestions for improvements.   Design/methodology/approach – We selected a typical Finnish paper mill as the basis for the case study. The mill data contains complete years from 2001 to 2007 on a monthly level. The data was obtained from the mill’s economic system and transferred to Excel. Statistica 4.1 was used to run the statistical correlation analyses. The results can be generalized with certain limitations to paper manufacturing located far from its customers.   Findings – This paper reveals an important insight on the economics of the Finnish paper industry. From theory building point of view, our empirical process data brings out, that the variation in the production lines were minimal, but there are big variations in paper deliveries, There are a lot to gain in the logistics processes. Larger volumes of the delivered tons also tend to increase profits. From the mill to the consignees, fluctuations in the process and paper sales grow substantially, which indicate longer storage times.   Research limitations/implications – The results of the case study are based on the data of one large integrated paper mill in Finland covering the years 2001-2007, so the results cannot be directly generalised to all Nordic paper mills. In May 2005, there was an industrial blackout, which affected considerably the production and deliveries from all the Finnish paper mills during that year.   Practical implications – The competitive advantages of the Finnish paper industry are weakened by the low paper prices and costly logistics. The mill managers should focus more on the overcapacity and cost issues and also deliver volumes, which all could contribute higher profits.   Originality/value – In this paper we study the Finnish paper industry together with time series, economic geography and statistical tools. This approach is a novel method and gives new insight for this research object. We study the mill’s economic variables as paper prices, profits and logistics and manufacturing costs and the characteristics of these issues in the spatial context. </p

Laboratoriotutkimusten viitearvojen määrittäminen ja merkitys kliinisessä päätöksenteossa

English summaryPeer reviewe

Cost aggregation in export logistics chain

This paper analyses cost aggregation in a supply chain. It provides a literature overview on the key concepts of cost aggregation, multimodal transport, logistic chain and maritime transport. The focuses on the value adding process with logistics data and assesses the costs accumulation during the transport process. The paper also reveals multimodal impacts on the logistics costs. The research data is obtained from the costing system of a large export company. The company exports round 90% of its production and mostly to the European markets. The research data contains a sample of 929 invoiced orders to the largest market of the mill. The research results indicate empirical evidence of the cost-function properties. This type of an approach is rare in logistics literature as these detailed data sets are highly difficult to obtain. The article concludes by addressing future research task and directions. </p