BOSTON, July 28 /PRNewswire/ --

RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced the addition of new tissue grade data to their Cost Benchmarking Service, along with a new information delivery method via the Analytical Cornerstone software platform.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080521/NEW122LOGO )

"Whether a client chooses a single grade or multiple grades of data, the potency of the Analytical Cornerstone platform allows clients to thoroughly analyze each mill's production process down to the machine-level in most cases, manipulate that data as needed, then export it to Excel," noted Surya P. Raina, Vice-President of Mill Intelligence.

RISI's tissue cost benchmarking data includes cost details for more than 154 mills and 296 machines producing retail and commercial tissue grades in Europe and North America. It is part of the Cost Benchmarking Service, a suite of manufacturing cost data including single grade-specific data for various pulp, paper and select wood grades, customized reports and the powerful 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, mill and industry performance.

"As one of the higher value grades in the industry, tissue is an area that has a great deal of growth potential in upcoming years," Mr. Raina elaborated. By coupling the new tissue costs with machine-level data and delivering it all via Analytical Cornerstone, Mr. Raina believes RISI is poised to offer one of the most effective and timely tissue cost benchmarking resources on the market.

The positive impact of this new data and delivery method promises to significantly benefit clients, particularly given the dynamic changes in the pulp and paper industry. Russ Butner, Director of Business Development for Georgia-Pacific, LLC., remarks, "Analytical Cornerstone helps me to accurately anticipate the relative impact of raw material pricing changes on the shape of the industry's cost of supply."

For a complete listing of all RISI cost benchmarking products, methodology or any additional information, visit http://www.risiinfo.com/benchmarking or contact David Rosenberg at +1-770-373-3028 or Dan Temple at +1-770-373-3020 (in North America) and Matt Graves at +32-2-536-0747 (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 http://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 Web site: http://www.risiinfo.com http://www.risiinfo.com/benchmarking

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