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SCA in New Zealand has now been supplying the Scott Base on Antarctica with Tork hygiene products - such as toilet tissue and hand towels - for 10 years.

The company has retained the Antarctica contract because Tork products perform well and adhere to the strict requirements of the Scott Base.

“Using New Zealand-made products from a sustainable and renewable source is important to our operation and SCA products fit well in this area,” says Michael Nottage, procurement officer for Scott Base.

“This had a significant impact on our decision to continue to use SCA products.”

He said SCA originally won the contract on its environmental profile and trusted quality brand along with the company’s compliance with the New Zealand government’s sustainable procurement initiative.

The Scott Base mainly provides services and accommodation for research parties. The selection of products and tissue is carried out carefully to help reduce waste and storage.

The Antarctic environment is very fragile and no waste stays on the ice: instead it is shipped back to New Zealand for recycling or disposal. The base also has its own wastewater treatment plant so all products need to be highly degradable.

All supplies to the Antarctica base – from food and drinks to car parts and toilet tissue – is shipped in only once a year in January from Christchurch, New Zealand.

SCA has invested £15 million in new state-of-the-art equipment at its Tyne Valley production site.

The move will inject vital funding into the local economy while securing jobs and creating new employment.

The £15 million has been used to fund two separate projects. The first is a new production line that enables SCA to produce Tork zigzag-fold towels in the UK for the first time. This will significantly cut down on transport emissions when delivering Tork zigzag-fold towels to UK customers - a move that will result in major carbon footprint reductions throughout the supply chain.

The second project concerns a new de-inking plant which will increase the capacity of recycled tissue fibre in the UK. Tony Richards, factory and site manager at Prudhoe, said: “This project is the latest in a long line of key investments designed to improve efficiency to ensure that we remain on a path towards achieving a long-term, sustainable future for the mill.

“This will in turn help to provide new employment and keep existing jobs safe while providing support for the local economy.” The well-known Triple Velvet and Asda Shades brands of toilet tissue are manufactured at Prudhoe mill.

Kevin Starr, SCA sales director UK and Ireland, said: “Our new de-inking plant will increase the amount of recycled fibre being produced in this country. Meanwhile, our new manufacturing facility will help to reduce the carbon footprint involved with supplying Tork zigzag towels to customers. This underpins our recently-launched ‘A sustainable choice is in your hands’ campaign.”

Prudhoe mill has a range of accreditations including ISO 14001, ISO 9001, FSC and BRC. In 2008 the mill won an Environmental Management Award at the North East Business Awards competition.

Kersti Strandqvist, senior vice president of sustainability at SCA, believes that four important trends will drive consumer behavior in the future – rapid population growth, technological advances, social development and limited natural resources.

“For SCA, it’s a matter of developing products and innovations that fit these trends, with sustainability being a key part,” Strandqvist says.  

“A critical issue is the supply of resources. We have to work constantly to develop product solutions that are as efficient as possible. In the short term, it’s a matter of making improvements based on existing technology. In the long term, it means working with new materials and technologies.”

Forest raw material

Many oil-based materials will need to be replaced soon by renewable ones as the oil supplies grow tight, driving oil prices too high. “SCA has a major advantage there because our operations are based on forest raw materials that we can expand on and use for a variety of different materials,” Strandqvist says.

It’s also important to look at the life cycles of products based on resource efficiency and reuse as much as possible. “Wood fiber can be reused up to seven times,” she says. “The most efficient solution is to recycle the fiber as many times as possible and then use it as energy.”

One trend that is becoming increasingly clear is that people are choosing brands that they can depend on and that represent sustainability. “By being resource-efficient, we’re helping people be sustainable in their consumption,” she says.

SCA is acquiring 95 percent of the Turkish hygiene products company San Saglik, producer of incontinence care products, from the family-owned MT Group. The purchase consideration corresponds to SEK 95m on a debt-free basis.

San Saglik has rapidly captured market share since the company was founded in 2008, and is now the second largest player in incontinence care products in Turkey. The acquisition comprises local production and access to strong brands.

“The acquisition of San Saglik supplements the acquisition of Komili, producer of baby diapers, feminine care products and toiletries, which was announced recently. SCA will have a complete personal care product portfolio in Turkey. The strong distribution network in retail that we accessed through Komili is now also extended to healthcare. Turkey is an important growth market with 70 million inhabitants and a rapidly growing population,” says Jan Johansson, CEO and President of SCA.

San Saglik generates annual revenues of approximately SEK 100m. SCA has a purchase option on the remaining 5 percent of the company.

The transaction is expected to be completed during the third quarter of this year, following approval by the relevant authorities.

SCA is acquiring 50 percent of the Turkish hygiene products company Komili from Yıldız Holding, which is the largest food group in Turkey. The purchase consideration corresponds to SEK 308m on a debt-free basis.

Komili is currently the fourth largest producer of baby diapers and feminine care products in Turkey, and the company also has operations in associated product areas such as wet wipes, soaps and shampoos. Komili will operate as a joint venture between SCA and Yıldız Holding.

The acquisition includes local production and access to a strong distribution network in the country. Komili’s annual sales are approximately SEK 530m.

“The acquisition will enable us to establish powerful hygiene products operations in Turkey in the fields of baby diapers and feminine care products. The business will also provide us with a platform for our incontinence care products in a key growth market with 70 million inhabitants and a fast-growing population,” says Jan Johansson, President and CEO of SCA.

The transaction is expected to be finalised during the third quarter of the current year, following approval from the authorities concerned.

SCA has issued a EUR 600 million 5.25-year Eurobond under its EMTN (Euro Medium Term Note) programme. The bond carries a coupon of 3,625% p.a., equivalent to Euro Mid-swaps +78 bps.

The bond offering was well oversubscribed. The bond was finally placed with some 150 international investors.

The bonds will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The proceeds of the offering will be used for general corporate purposes.

BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, ING and UniCredit acted as joint bookrunners for the transaction.

SCA is investing in expanded tissue capacity in Russia and Germany, and in solid-wood products in Sweden. The investments will total approximately SEK 2.6bn (approx. EUR 290m).

There is favourable growth in the Russian tissue market and SCA is the leading player, with such strong brands as Tork and Zewa. To further reinforce and strengthen the market position, a decision has been made to invest approximately SEK 1.2bn (approx. EUR 130m) in a second tissue machine in Sovetsk, Russia. The new tissue machine has a capacity of 60,000 tons annually and production is based on virgin fibre. Production is scheduled to commence in 2013.

SCA is also investing approximately SEK 1.1bn (approx. EUR 120m) in a new tissue machine in Kostheim, Germany. This investment is being made to meet increased demand, primarily for AFH tissue products. The new tissue machine will have a capacity of 60,000 tons annually and production is scheduled to commence in 2013.

To increase production capacity and reduce costs, a decision has been made to invest approximately SEK 300m (approx. EUR 30m) in the Bollsta sawmill, Sweden. The investment comprises two new biofuel boilers, increased drying capacity and an upgrade of the saw line. Through these investments, production capacity will increase from 450,000 cubic metres to 525,000 cubic metres of sawn pine products per year. The investment enables energy production exclusively from the company’s own biofuel, meaning that a large amount of oil can be phased out of production. The biofuel boiler is scheduled for commissioning at the end of 2012, while other parts will be successively commissioned during 2012 and 2013.

“Through these investments, we will enhance our capacity, efficiency and profitability in markets that are important to us,” says SCA President Jan Johansson.

Mats Berencreutz has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SCA’s global hygiene business, i.e. tissue and personal care products. At the same time, Magnus Groth has been appointed new President of SCA’s tissue operations in Europe.

Mats Berencreutz is currently President of SCA’s tissue operations in Europe and a member of SCA’s Corporate Senior Management Team. Mats Berencreutz has long and broad experience of senior positions in SCA’s hygiene business.

Magnus Groth is currently President of Studsvik AB. He has long and broad experience of senior positions in such companies as Boston Consulting Group and Vattenfall.

“By implementing this change, we will strengthen the Group’s resources and create conditions to further coordinate and develop SCA’s hygiene business, with the goal of improving profitability and increasing the growth,” says SCA’s CEO, Jan Johansson.

Mats Berencreutz and Magnus Groth will be members of SCA’s Corporate Senior Management Team.

Bollsta sawmill invests mSEK 37 in log-sorting equipment. The investment comprises a log sorting-line with 80 boxes.

“With a new conveyor and as much as 80 boxes, we can fully utilise our new equipment for x-ray and 3D measuring of sawlogs”, says Katarina Levin, SCA’s sawmill manager in Bollstabruk. “We can sort our sawlogs with a higher precision, improve the yield and ensure we use the right raw material for the right product. We will also increase our log-sorting capacity and allow for a continued production increase at Bollsta sawmill.”

Last year Bollsta sawmill invested in new equipment for x-ray measuring of logs and for measuring of logs in three dimensions, and in other log-sorting equipment.

“Now we have state-of-the-art technology throughout our sawlog handling”, says Katarina Levin. “With this equipment we can fully utilise the high quality of our timber raw material. We will also have a smoother handling of the logs, so we reduce damages and wastage.”

The new investment will be carried out during the summer 2011.

Just at the end of February 2011 SCA Hygiene Products has started up with Toscotec the major rebuild of the tissue machine PM 3 in Mannheim (Germany).

PM 3 was a Voith suction breast roll machine dated 1971 with grooved YD of 5000 mm dia. The machine featured a paper trim width at the reel of 5200 mm with a max running speed before the rebuild of 1400 mpm with a limitation on production of low basis weights.

The project target was mainly to increase the machine speed up to 2000 mpm maintaining the same trim width and to improve paper quality, making softer products, as well as the runnability and maintenance. The stock preparation system and the machine was upgraded in order to have possibility to manage products with different furnish.

Toscotec scope of supply includes an AHEAD 2.0 L crescent former with a multilayered headbox TT Headbox ML - T featuring Consistency Profiling, new felt run design in cantilevered solution, upgrade of the existing two presses configuration, new YD doctoring, tail threading system, full width turn up, TT Reel H+ with advanced solution on winding operations. Toscotec also supplied the rebuild of the stock preparation plant, new water system, the complete new approach flow system for double layers solution, shaft pulling and core handling system, upgrade of the steam & condensate system with innovative energy savings solution, electrification and control system. The project has been managed on the turn key basis by Toscotec providing also whole engineering services and erection. Start up has been completed according to the time schedule.

With this rebuild the machine in Mannheim will be one of the most modern conventional machines in Europe featuring technology that will allow to reduce energy and fibres consumptions and to produce high quality soft tissue.

The good cooperation between the Toscotec and SCA teams has driven the positive project result in a short time from paper to paper considering the high level of difficulties to manage such a kind of a major rebuild in an existing building .