Displaying items by tag: södra

"We will be concluding the formal rescue work during the afternoon," said Ingemar Idh, who has headed up the rescue and fire-fighting operations.

At its peak, some 50 people from 10 rescue services took part in helping to put out the fire. SCM resources from Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm were called to take advantage of their substantial pump capacity. Five helicopters have been used to drop water on the fire, two of which came from Norway.

On Wednesday, the leaders of the rescue operation decided that formal firefighting efforts could be concluded.

"The buildings that we protected are not in the risk zone, and so Södra Cell will be taking over responsibility for the ongoing operation. But the high-powered water cannons from SCM will be here until Friday night, and the Mönsterås rescue services will also continue to manage the rescue operation," said Mr Idh.

Intensive work is in progress to recommission the mill, although this process is unlikely to be complete until early September. Cleanup work and inspection of the shaker shoe and belt conveyors is in progress. Damping down and inspection of the sawdust heaps are ongoing, and charred chips damaged by the fire are being removed.

An investigation is in progress into the cause of the fire. "This will allow us also to decide whether there are any shortcomings in our procedures and to rectify any that we find," said Carsten Wieger, site manager for Södra Cell Mönsterås.

Related Story: Fire in Mönsterås chip conveyor

Last Friday, a fire broke out in a chip conveyor at the pulp mill in Mönsterås. The cause of the fire is currently unknown. The prevailing wind caused the fire to spread rapidly to the three chip stacks at the mill. Firefighters have battled to contain the fire over the weekend, and the fire is now under control. The fire has not spread, but has been restricted to the chip stacks.

At present, putting out the fire is expected to take a few more days. It is difficult to say with any certainty when production will resume at the mill until the fire has been put out and it is possible to inspect the equipment. We are currently expecting the mill to resume operations within a few weeks. Nobody was injured in the fire.
 
The sawmill in Mönsterås was also closed due to the fire. Operations at the sawmill are expected to resume midweek.

Caroline Sundewall and Marie Hallén were elected as new board members of Södra at today's Annual General Meeting. Caroline Sundewall started out as a financial controller, then switched to journalism and is today a consultant and board professional with years of experience. Alongside her new assignment at Södra she also serves on the board of directors of Svolder, Haldex, Tradedoubler, SJ (Swedish Railways), Lifco, Pågen, Ahlsell and Mertzig Kapitalförvaltning.

Marie Hallén is an agricultural technologist and a farmer and forester in Sollebrunn, Sweden. She has previously held several positions of trust in the agricultural cooperation sector. In addition to working on her farm she is employed at LRF Konsult where she handles EU matters, EU applications, corporate tax returns and annual accounts.

Gunilla Aschan declined re-election and is therefore no longer on the board of directors.

Södra Cell is to start producing and selling the biodegradable composite material, DuraPulp, at its Värö mill. Production is scheduled to commence after the summer.

"DuraPulp is a material that is making a very timely appearance. It can replace plastics in many applications but it has the distinct advantage of being biodegradable. The time is right to begin producing and selling this material," commented Henrik Wettergren, Business Area Manager for Printing Paper and Specialities.

Initially, sales of DuraPulp will focus on the business areas of speciality paper, design and board.

"We believe that our customers will come from these three business areas. We will begin with small-scale production but we're prepared to increase production to match demand," Wettergren added.

DuraPulp is the result of many years of research and was produced by Södra together with the research and development company Innventia. The starting point for the research included the idea of creating a new fibre-based material that would be renewable and biodegradable.

DuraPulp is a composite material made of specially selected pulp from Södra Cell combined with a renewable biopolymer. Following additional processing, these two components take on special properties such as humidity resistance, tensile strength and rigidity.

The use of DuraPulp was first demonstrated at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2009 through the children's chair, Parupu, which was developed by the Stockholm design firm, Claesson Koivisto Rune. The firm has also created the lamp w101 made of DuraPulp that is now being sold by the lighting company, Wästberg.

Södra Cell has announce a price increase for Softwood Pulps in Europe. New price valid from June 1st is USD 1040, price valid until further notice.

Södra has today signed a Sales and Marketing Agreement with the Russian company Angara Paper, taking on the role of distributor for the pulp production from the planned mill Angara Paper. This establishes Södra as both the industrial and the sales partner for the project. The final investment decision for the project is expected early next year.

For further information, please contact:
Leif Brodén, CEO, +46 70 558 94 26
Gunilla Saltin, President Södra Cell, +46 70 261 41 40
Per Braconier, Director Corporate Communication, +46 70 534 51 66

Södra has appointed Carina Olson as its new Chief Financial Officer as of 1 June.

Carina Olson has many years of experience in leading positions at Södra, where she has been employed since 2001. She has been part of the Södra Group executive since 2009 and is currently the HR Director for the Group. She was previously the Chief Financial Officer for the Södra Cell and Södra Timber business areas. She is 45, a graduate in Business Administration, and she also holds an MBA from the School of Business, Economics and Law in Stockholm.

As Chief Financial Officer, Carina Olson will continue to be part of Södra's Group Executive and report to CEO and Group President Leif Brodén. Carina Olson will retain responsibility for HR in her new position.

At the same time, Gustav Tibblin, Business Development Director, will take over responsibility for acquisitions (M&A) and the Group teams IT and Environment and Energy. The Productivity department is organised in parallel with the Purchasing department and reports to Beatrice Kämpe Nikolausson, Director of Purchasing.

At its meeting on 15 February, Södra's Board of Directors decided on its proposal for appropriation of profit, which will be submitted to the Annual General Meeting on 17 May 2011.

The proposal is that SEK 851 million be transferred to the members in the form of:

Retroactive payment on normal softwood timber, SEK 74 per cubic metre sub, total SEK 244.9 million
Retroactive payment on other assortments, 12 per cent, total SEK 234.3 million
Dividend on capital contributed, 12 per cent, total SEK 282.4 million

Bonus issue to members' capital account, SEK 89.4 million. The bonus issue represents 10 per cent of available paid-up capital as of 31 December 2010.

In addition, 7.7 per cent on subordinated debentures, Series D, total SEK 10 million.

Chairman's comments:
- We can note that 2010 was a strong year for Södra and our members. The Board has proposed an appropriation of profits that involves a transfer to the members worth over SEK 850 million," said Chairman of the Board, Christer Segerstéen.

- Last year's high prices for wood and the appropriation we are proposing makes 2010 a year in which the profitability of our members' forest properties was historically good.

- In recent years, we have seen major and rapid changes in the markets for both our products and timber raw material. The large price fluctuations for timber made us decide to deviate from the normal system of retroactive payments. We are proposing that retroactive payment on normal softwood timber is SEK 74 per m3sub instead of 12 per cent of the gross delivery value. In this way, the retroactive payment is the same for each cubic metre delivered, even if the prices have varied during the year.

- The appropriation proposal corresponds to approximately 40 percent of the profit, i.e. somewhat more than the long-term target of one-third of the profit. Apart from the dividend on wood and capital contributed, we are proposing a bonus issue so our members can share in the value added through Södra.

- The Södra model will reward the members who choose to make long-term deliveries of all their wood to Södra, and who thereby fully engage in our partnership.

Södra is raising the price of its softwood pulp in Europe by USD 30/tonne. NBSK grades will rise from USD 950/tonne to USD 980/tonne, effective from 1 March.

For the first time as a finished product, the paper lamp Claesson Koivisto Rune w101 is on display at the Northern Light Fair 2011. The lamp has already been honoured with multiple awards, including a Swedish Design Award and a Good Design Award.

In Magnus Wästberg's own words: Cooperating with Södra has been most rewarding. It feels meaningful to develop products more efficient than those already on the market, not just in respect of lighting technique, but also in respect of materials and the production process.

According to Per Braconier, Director Corporate Communications for Södra, developing the paper lamp has meant being in contact with completely new markets and companies that are interested in new materials. The cooperation has been extremely enriching for Södra, and it has meant that we have been seen by a wider public.

It took seven years to research the material Durapulp and more time still was spent on the production process.

The entire structure of this high-tech LED task light is made of paper. It is constructed using sandwiched paper sheets of DuraPulp, a fully bio-degradable material made of 100% renewable fibers. For a paper, it is very strong and durable. But the folded geometry of the lamp also makes for rigidity, and is not just for sculptural effect.

The lamp structure is compostable and uses an absolute minimum of material. The custom-designed, state-of-the-art LED solution provides the most electricity-conserving, dimmable, quality light possible. And the directed light itself puts the light where you need it without spill.

Claesson Koivisto Rune sum it up:
- We dare anyone to manufacture a more ecological electric lamp.