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Over the Wire

in case you missed it in TAPPI’s weekly electronic newsletter

The GLAMorous Life

During a recent visit to TAPPI headquarters, Editor Emeritus Glenn Ostle received an unexpected gift: a framed enlargement of a very special issue of Paper360°. The commemorative cover was created by TAPPI publications staff to honor Glenn’s 10-year stint as editorial director, as well as to convey best wishes for his retirement. It features Glenn and his partner Pam Hadfield—or, as TAPPI friends have dubbed the power couple, GLAM—with headlines including “TAPPI Copes with Loss of Great Editor” and “World Fish Population Prepares for Closeups” (both Glenn and Pam are avid underwater photographers.) Fortunately for readers, Glenn will continue to contribute to Paper360° in his role as editor emeritus (see his article on page 20 in this issue.) To view Glenn Ostle’s underwater photography, visit featherandfins.smugmug.com.

MANUFACTURERS

Cascades Sonoco, a joint venture of Sonoco Products Co. and Cascades, has developed a water-based barrier coating for food takeout containers. The new coating makes the takeout box compostable when applied to recycled paperboard.

Celupaper S.A. has started up its new PM 3, the first of the two tissue machines commissioned to Toscotec (Italy) in the past two years. The new line is installed at Papelera Nicaragua mill, Argentina.

DS Smith Plc, a provider of recycled corrugated packaging in Europe, has announced the proposed acquisition of Deku-Pack, Denmark. 

Kimberly-Clark’s mill in Maracay, Venezuela, was seized by the government in July following its closure by the company. More than 900 workers had occupied the facility since its closure.

Kruger Products LP is investing US$55 million to add a paper machine at its mill in Crabtree, Quebec.

Packaging Corp. of America has signed a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of TimBar Corp. in a cash-free, debt-free transaction for a cash purchase price of US$386 million. PCA will acquire five corrugated products plants, two fulfillment centers, and four design centers located primarily in the eastern and southeastern US.

Port Townsend Paper has received a 2016 Environmental Excellence Award from Northwest Pulp & Paper Association. During the past 10 years, the mill has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels by nearly 60 percent.

Pratt Industries’ Staten Island, NY, paper mill surpassed 6 million tons of 100 percent recycled containerboard production in early 2016. Voith designed the 196-in.-trim paper machine for Pratt in 1997; it was slated to produce 710 tpd.

Verso Corp. and its subsidiaries have emerged from bankruptcy following a successful financial restructuring and confirmation of its Chapter 11 plan of reorganization.

Vinda Group, a Hong Kong-based hygiene products company, has entered into a strategic cooperation framework agreement with China National Pulp and Paper Research Institute.

SUPPLIERS

Andritz:

has received an order from the Italian Pro-Gest Group to deliver the complete waste paper processing plant and approach system for its new paper machine in Mantova, Italy.

will supply a latest-generation FibreFlow drum FFD, including complete feeding and dewiring system, for a new OCC line at the S.A. Industrias Celulosa Aragonesa (SAICA) paper mill in El Burgo de Ebro, Spain.

started up a Papillon LC-refiner for Sofidel in Lancaster, UK, as part of a major upgrade of the stock preparation equipment and tissue machine.

BTG’s parent company, Spectris plc, has acquired Capstone Technology Corp., a leading provider of software for process control optimization and decision support analytics.

Coldwater reports a record number of global orders in 2016 for its FabCurl and Deckle Board Edge Control Systems.

Evoqua will provide equipment and services for Procter & Gamble Co.’s $200 million 50 MW biomass/wood waste-to-energy cogeneration project in Albany, GA.

Kadant Solutions has launched its AccuFlake PRO blade holder for use with OEM drum flaking doctors; the product can reduce blade change time to less than 30 seconds.

Nationwide Boiler and Superior Boiler Works have completed production of the world’s first 1,000 hp mobile boiler room. The system will be stored in Hutchinson, KS, for fast delivery throughout the United States.

Pöyry will provide engineering services assignments by BillerudKorsnäs for a paper machine relocation and rebuild at its Skärblacka mill in Sweden.

SKF, Sweden, has inked a two-year contract to supply a wide range of bearings and support services to CMPC, a major Chilean pulp and paper company.

Valmet:

has opened a logistics center in Araucária, Brazil. The center is Valmet’s fifth logistics center globally.

will deliver a biomass-fired boiler plant and related automation and environmental systems to Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill in the Republic of Karelia, Russia.

Voith will install a fully automated VariFlex winder on the BM1 board machine at Stora Enso’s Kaukopää mill in Imatra, Finland.

Xerium Technologies has launched two new roll cover product families: EnerSoft TS, a polyurethane roll cover technology for demanding tissue pressure rolls positions; and ProGloss, an advanced technology composite roll cover for calender applications.

EVENTS

RISI North American Conference: Oct. 4-6 in San Diego, CA. http://events.risiinfo.com/north-american-conference

Advanced Coating Symposium: Oct. 4-6 at Innventia headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. tappiadvancedcoating.org

SuperCorrExpo: Oct. 17-20 in Orlando, FL. supercorrexpo.org

4th International Conference on Process Technologies for the Forest and Biobased Products Industries: Oct. 25-26 in St. Simons Island, GA. http://www.forestprod.org/technology

PPI 2016 Awards: Nov. 21 in Brussels. http://events.risiinfo.com/ppi-awards

Sun Paper Arkansas Mill Delayed

China-based Sun Paper has delayed construction of its new bioproduct/pulp mill in Gum Springs, near Arkadelphia, AR, until at least the third quarter of 2017. Construction was originally scheduled to begin early next year. The company attributes the delay to ongoing pre-engineering and feasibility studies, as well as the permitting process. Construction of the mill will take two-and-a-half to three years, which means that startup will now occur in mid- to late-2020. 

Also, the company reportedly is considering reducing or dropping the planned production of fluff pulp and focusing mainly on dissolving pulp (also known as specialty cellulose) as its main product. At press time, the mill’s final product mix had not yet been decided.

The new US$1.36 billion mill (final investment could be closer to US$1 billion, depending on final product mix) will be one of the largest private investments in Arkansas’ history. Sun Paper has stated that the facility, the company’s first in North America, will be one of the world’s most environmentally focused pulp mills.