INTERNATIONAL PAPER CO /NEW/ (IP)

International Paper Company, a New York corporation originally incorporated in 1898 (reincorporated in 1941), is a global leader in sustainable, renewable fiber-based packaging and pulp products, operating manufacturing facilities across North America, Latin America, Europe, and North Africa, plus a packaging distribution business through six branches in Asia. As of December 31, 2024, U.S. operations included 22 pulp and packaging mills, 157 converting and packaging plants, 16 recycling plants, and three bag facilities, while international operations (Canada, Europe, North Africa, Latin America) included four pulp and packaging mills, 36 converting and packaging plants, and two recycling plants. The Company is organized into two reportable segments: Industrial Packaging and Global Cellulose Fibers.

In April 2024, International Paper announced an all-stock business combination with DS Smith Plc, a UK-headquartered global packaging company, which was approved by both companies' shareholders in October 2024 and closed on January 31, 2025; as part of regulatory clearance, the Company agreed to divest several European plants, and it subsequently obtained a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: IPC) and established an EMEA headquarters in London. In the third quarter of 2024, the Company began implementing an "80/20" strategic approach aimed at focusing resources on the most impactful 20% of activities to drive profitable growth, reduce costs, and position IP as a low-cost, reliable, innovative packaging provider across North America and EMEA; this included a corporate overhead restructuring plan and facility closures. In October 2024, the Company announced it was exploring strategic options for its Global Cellulose Fibers business.

These moves follow the September 2023 completion of the sale of the Company's 50% equity interest in Ilim S.A. (a Russian pulp and paper joint venture) and related residual interests, after which IP no longer holds any investments in Russia, with historical Ilim results now reported as discontinued operations. Capital spending totaled approximately $4.3 billion from 2020 through 2024 (excluding M&A), with $921 million spent in 2024 and approximately $1.2 billion planned for 2025. As of December 31, 2024, the Company employed approximately 37,000 people, nearly 31,000 in the United States, with about 13,000 U.S. hourly employees represented by unions (9,600 by the United Steelworkers), governed by five master labor agreements plus local facility agreements.

The Company maintains various human capital programs covering safety (including a Vision 2030 goal of a 100% injury-free workplace), employee wellbeing, training and leadership development (including REACH and Global Manufacturing Training Initiative programs), competitive compensation and benefits, and diversity/inclusion initiatives through employee networking circles. Following its London Stock Exchange secondary listing, the Company is subject to UK Listing Rules board diversity disclosure requirements, under which it did not meet the 40%-women-on-the-board or senior-leadership-gender-diversity standards as of year-end 2024, though it met the ethnic minority board representation standard. The Company also reported approximately $17 million invested in community engagement in 2024, supporting initiatives such as food security partnerships with The Global FoodBanking Network and Feeding America, and its Fighting Period Poverty program, as part of a Vision 2030 goal to improve the lives of 100 million people in its communities.