Nippon Paper Aussie Subsidiary Sues Local Govt for Damages

Tokyo, Sept. 22 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Nippon Paper Industries Co. said Monday that an Australian subsidiary sued the state government of Victoria the same day for alleged breach of a supply contract for eucalyptus wood as a raw material for printing and information paper. The subsidiary, Paper Australia Pty., known as Opal, is seeking damages of 402 million Australian dollars, or about 40 billion yen. In 2020, the Japanese paper maker established Opal by acquiring an Australian company’s paperboard business for some 124.3 billion yen. The Victoria government, the supplier of local eucalyptus wood, lost a court case involving an environmental protection group, however, causing the supply to be ended and forcing Opal to pull out of the graphic paper business in 2023. According to Nippon Paper, Opal and the Victoria government negotiated over costs associated with the business withdrawal, such as employee severance pay, but no agreement was reached, leading to the damages lawsuit. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]