Paper 360
…in case you missed it in TAPPI’s weekly electronic newsletter
MANUFACTURERS
Domtar Corp. plans to optimize fluff pulp manufacturing at its Plymouth, NC, mill. The restructuring includes the permanent closure of the small pulp dryer and a workforce reduction of about 100 positions.
Huhtamaki North America will open a new manufacturing and distribution center in Goodyear, AZ. The 750,000-sq.-ft. facility will produce paper drink cups, insulated hot cups, food containers, pressed paperboard plates, and thermoformed plastic cups and lids.
KapStone Paper and Packaging has announced that, effective Jan. 1, 2017, Roger Stone is stepping down as CEO. Matt Kaplan will step in as CEO and continue as the company’s president.
Parenco has started up PM 2 at its Renkum, Netherlands, mill following its rebuild/conversion from newsprint to packaging paper. Voith rebuilt the PM and served as general contractor.
Metsä Tissue has selected Valmet as supplier for the upgrades of tissue machine TM 3 at its Raubach, Germany, mill, and the tissue machine at its Pauliström, Sweden, mill.
Resolute Forest Products has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Tembec’s sawmill in Senneterre, QC.
Sappi North America has received a Champion of Economic Development Award from the Maine Development Foundation. The company has three locations in Maine.
Södra has broken ground for the new evaporator and brown stock washing system at its pulp mill at Mörrum, Sweden.
Stora Enso plans to consolidate manufacturing of corrugated packaging in Finland to its Lahti plant. As part of the plan, Stora Enso would invest about EUR 19 million (US$21.3 million) in new machinery and infrastructure in Lahti, chiefly for a new corrugator.
ST Tissue (Tak Investments Inc.) is adding a 50,000-tpy dry crepe machine alongside its existing 70,000-tpy wet crepe machine at its Franklin, VA, facility.
SUPPLIERS
Andritz has received an order from JSC Volga in Balakhna, Russia, to deliver a complete state-of-the-art ATMP line, which will process 100 percent spruce for the production of softwood pulp. Startup is scheduled for 2019.
BTG will supply inline sensors and analyzers at PT OKI’s world-class new fiberline in Indonesia.
Coldwater has sold and completed the start-up of another PCA Dryer Passivation System on a 4.5 m (176 in)-wide recycled paperboard machine at a recycled mill in the Southwest US.
Integrated Test & Measurement LLC has introduced its Clinker Detection System. The system identifies fouling problems and determines the effectiveness of boiler cleaning tools and processes.
Kadant Solutions has launched its Yankee Safe program, developed to protect the yankee and specific components throughout their life cycle. The program is designed to aid tissue makers in minimizing upsets and providing consistent quality.
PAPCEL, Czechoslovakia, will supply a rewinder to a strategic partner in the Indian market, along with refurbishment of an existing rewinder.
SKF will provide lubrication technology and system engineering support to the world’s first next-generation bioproduct mill, which is being built by Metsä Fibre in Äänekoski, Finland. The mill will run solely on renewable energy.
Sofidel will provide a latest-generation rewinder model E-WIND to A.Celli Paper, Italy.
Solenis has received patents in both the US and Europe for its Biobond technology, which improves sustainability and productivity for manufacturers of recycled paperboard.
Toscotec supplied the 5,600 mm-wide TT SYD-18FT—the biggest European steel yankee dryer for tissue production—recently started up at the WEPA Cassino mill in Italy, as part of the mill’s PM 3 rebuild project.
Valmet:
• will supply Tembec’s specialty dissolving pulp mill in Tartas, France, with a Valmet IQ quality control system (QCS) and an expansion of an existing Valmet DNA distributed control system (DCS) for the mill’s pulp dryer.
• has recently received nine orders for its automated paper testing laboratory: three units will be delivered to North America, four to Europe, and two to Asia.
• will supply paper machine modifications and a new winder to Laakirchen Papier AG in Austria.
• has entered into a wastewater and bio-gas measurements partnership with Endress +Hauser AB based in Solna, Sweden.
Voith Paper will supply a complete
VTM 4 double-width tissue machine for Protisa’s new production facility in Cañete, Peru. Protisa is a subsidiary of CMPC, São Paulo.
EVENTS
• PPI 2016 Awards: Nov. 21 in Brussels, Belgium. http://events.risiinfo.com/ppi-awards
• International Woodfiber Resource and Trade Conference: Feb. 13-15, 2017 in Da Nang, Vietnam. http://events.risiinfo.com/wood-fiber
• RISI European Conference: Mar. 6-8, 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. http://events.risiinfo.com/european-conference
• TAPPI PaperCon 2017: Apr. 23-26, 2017, Minneapolis, MN. www.papercon.org
Flying Eagle Sees Successful Startup
Kotkamills’ BM2—called the Flying Eagle—started up in July 2016 as planned at the facility in Kotka, Finland. BM2 is the first machine in the world with the capability to produce dispersion barrier coatings directly on the machine, producing barrier boards that can be recycled with normal paper waste due to having zero plastic content. The machine produces high quality consumer boards for global customers—a range of folding boxboards are produced under the brand name AEGLE and a range of food service boards under the brand name ISLA.
“The interest in our new sustainable products has been massive,” says Kotkamills CEO Markku Hämäläinen. “The new machine offers a wide range of interesting possibilities for converters, brand owners, and designers alike. Another of the machine’s unique features is the ability to produce board with a silk matte surface, providing brand owners the possibility to make their product really stand out.”
Bellmer Vaahto has been the main supplier for the conversion of the 5.4 m-wide magazine paper machine into board production. The entire tandem shoe-press section, TURBOPress, was supplied from Bellmer´s main location in Niefern, Germany; Bellmer Vaahto´s Hollola workshop in Finland was in charge of the 3-ply wire section, including TURBOVaahtoJetter headboxes and a TURBOFormerPro top-former unit. Bellmer’s scope of supply also included the extension of the dryer section, new hood, pulpers and approach flow systems, as well as engineering, project management, full erection, commissioning, customer training and start-up services.
Kotkamills’ consumer boards business will serve two main market areas: the production of packaging for food, confectionery, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics; and food service boards for disposable cups and plates. All products are based on Nordic fresh forest fibers and come with the unique possibility of the addition of on-machine dispersion coated barriers to replace the non-renewable plastics traditionally used.
The new machine will increase the mill’s environmental performance by significantly decreasing the consumption of electricity and water compared with the former paper production process. Production capacity is 400,000 tpy, with a total investment of 170 million EUR (more than US$190 million). More than 5 million EUR (US$5.6 million) has been invested in the effluent treatment plant, improving wastewater quality.
Renmatix Secures US$14 Million Investment from Bill Gates and Total
Renmatix, Philadelphia, PA, a leader in affordable cellulosic sugars, has announced a US$14 million investment, led by Bill Gates. The investment is in commercializing the Plantrose process, which provides an enabling technology for profitable biorefineries. The investment will help drive the first wave of Renmatix licensees building Plantrose-enabled biorefineries in diverse global markets like Canada, India, Malaysia, the US, and elsewhere. In parallel, that activity will facilitate further market development in downstream bioproduct applications.
Gates is joined in the round by Total, a global energy firm which, after an initial investment in 2015, has expanded its investment and has additionally signed a licensing agreement with Renmatix for 1 million tons of annual cellulosic sugar production capacity, at Total’s discretion to build corresponding facilities. The license represents significant revenue potential for Renmatix, extending over the lifetime of the agreement.
Project success was aided by strong cooperation between Kotkamills and the Bellmer team
(center: Markku Hämäläinen, CEO of Kotkamills).
Metsä Fibre’s new Äänekoski mill is the largest single investment in Finland’s forest industry, at approximately EUR1.2 billion (US$1.34 billion), and will produce significantly more electricity than it will use.
