Displaying items by tag: valmet

Valmet has become aware of Alfa Laval’s announcement on public cash tender offer for all shares in Neles. Valmet completed 14.88 percent share acquisition of Neles’ shares from Solidium Oy on July 1, 2020.

“Neles is a good quality company with a strong position in the pulp and paper industry and other process industries. Valmet and Neles have a common heritage, serve similar global industries and benefit from same global megatrends. Valmet sees a good amount of value in Neles and with the previously announced share acquisition our target is to participate in developing the company further. Therefore, as a Neles shareholder, Valmet does not consider Alfa Laval’s tender offer to be beneficial for Neles. Valmet will continue as an active shareholder of Neles,” says Pasi Laine, President and CEO of Valmet.

Valmet acquires 14.9% ownership in the future Neles
Valmet completes 14.9% ownership acquisition of Neles

Valmet will supply the world’s largest bleached chemi thermo mechanical pulp (BCTMP) line to Guangxi Sun Paper Co., Ltd’s new Beihai mill in China. The start-up is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2021. The order was included in Valmet's orders received of the second quarter 2020. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

Valmet’s delivery is part of Sun Paper’s new greenfield mill in Beihai, which will eventually have a total pulp and paper capacity of 3.5 million tonnes annually. This order complements the fine paper machine, automation and recovery boiler order, which Valmet announced in April 2020 and the cooking and fiberline order announced at the beginning of June.

“We have been discussing BCTMP technology with Valmet over the years and have done a lot of research on Valmet installations. The selected solution meets our needs very well, especially in terms of energy saving, environmental impact and operation capacity,” says Yanjun Cao, Vice General Manager, Sun Paper.

“This BCTMP order from Sun Paper is a great breakthrough for our cooperation, especially in BCTMP technology. The state-of-the-art technology we offered will help the customer to reduce operation cost significantly. This order further extends Valmet’s scope of delivery to Sun Paper Beihai Mill,” says Xiangdong Zhu, Area President, China, Valmet.

The Beihai mill site, showing site activities in progress.

Information about Valmet’s delivery

The Valmet delivered BCTMP line is integrated to a folding box board line which will have capacity of 1,800 airdried metric tonnes per day.

Valmet’s delivery includes the main equipment for the BCTMP line including the world leading refiner and wash press technology. The EPS delivery scope covers engineering, procurement and site supervision. Training, site services and corresponding spare parts are also a part of the scope.

Information about the customer Sun Paper

Sun Paper is one of the subsidiaries of Shandong Sun Holdings Group, which was founded in 1982. Currently Sun Paper has two mills in China’s Shandong province. The company also operates a mill in Laos. In July 2019, Sun Paper established a wholly owned subsidiary, Guangxi Sun Paper, to build an integrated pulp and paper mill in Beihai.

Valmet will supply a complete steam boiler plant to Norske Skog’s paper mill in Bruck an der Mur, Austria.

The order was included in Valmet’s orders received of the first quarter 2020. The value of the order is approximately EUR 40 million. The boiler plant will be handed over to the customer in 2022.

The investment will improve the mill’s cost competitiveness, reduce its carbon footprint and create new business beyond publication paper by generating revenue from the combustion of refuse-derived fuels (RDF).

“Norske Skog Bruck has chosen Valmet’s proven technology solution based on several well-performing reference plants. This project is a next step in our green diversification initiatives within the Norske Skog group and a milestone for further development of the Bruck site,” says Enzo Zadra, Managing Director, Norske Skog Bruck GmbH.

“Valmet will deliver a technically demanding boiler plant in which all pieces of advanced technology are seamlessly integrated together to serve the mill’s targets. Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) solutions will play an important role in improving boiler performance and profitability,” says Kai Janhunen, Vice President, Pulp and Energy business line, Energy business unit, Valmet.

With a fuel power of 56 megawatts, the new boiler will run mainly on RDF, pulper rejects and sludge with natural gas as a secondary fuel. It will partly replace the steam production of existing natural-gas-fired boilers as well as supply heat to the paper mill and local district heating network in Bruck, resulting in lower CO₂ emissions.

Information about Valmet’s delivery

Valmet’s turnkey delivery includes Valmet’s BFB boiler plant that utilizes bubbling fluidized bed technology. It features a robust and integrated concept consisting of a gas-fired superheater for final steam superheating, baghouse filter for primary pollution control, SCR system for NO_x reduction, combustion air humidifier as well as a condensing scrubber for heat production and final emission reduction. Additionally, the delivery includes the construction of new buildings for the equipment, an upgrade of an existing Valmet DNA Automation System and Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) solutions with DNA Combustion Manager and DNA Boiler Sootblowing Manager solutions and VII cloud services.

Information about the customer Norske Skog

Norske Skog is a world-leading producer of publication paper with a strong market position in Europe and Australasia. The group operates six paper mills and a pellets business in five countries, with an annual publication paper production capacity of 2.3 million tons and pellets capacity of 85,000 tons. Newsprint and magazine paper is sold through sales offices and agents to over 80 countries. The group has approximately 2,300 employees. In addition to the traditional publication paper and pellets business, it has launched new growth initiatives related to renewable energy, biochemical products and fiber products.

Valmet will supply new reel and winding technology and surrounding equipment for Metsä Board Kyro mill in Finland. In the rebuild, new reel and winder with an automatic transfer rail connection will be installed to modernize the board machine KK 1. The start-up is scheduled for the second half of 2021.

The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the second quarter 2020. The value of the order will not be disclosed. The total value of an order of this type is typically around EUR 10-20 million.

After finalizing the deal (from left): Ari Kiviranta, Mika Sainio, Jarno Lehtonen, Marko Heikkilä (all from Metsä Board), Marko Korpinen and Sami Anttilainen (both from Valmet).

“Metsä Board’s Kyro mill produces high quality coated folding boxboard and the new eco-barrier paperboard. We wanted to modernize the boardmaking finishing area and eliminate bottlenecks to meet the capacity needs of today and the future. Another important factor was reducing the risk of board caliber loss. Valmet’s reeling and winding solutions have features that fit this purpose well,” says Jarno Lehtonen, Project Manager, Metsä Board.

“In addition to Valmet’s technology, there were other important factors for getting this project. Our local presence and high expertise level in project management and production support with strong training offering will secure fast startup without any disturbance in Kyro’s supply chain,” says Marko Korpinen, Product Sales Manager, Valmet.

Valmet will supply the 300th Valmet Paper Lab automated board and paper testing laboratory to Papierfabrik Palm's (Palm) Aalen-Neukochen mill. In total, Valmet will deliver three Valmet Paper Labs to the company’s Descartes mill in France and Wörth and Aalen-Neukochen mills in Germany. Valmet Paper Lab delivers accurate and rapid measurement results that are used either as a quality stamp for the end-product or for the board machine operation optimization.

The two Valmet Paper Lab systems were included in Valmet's orders received of the fourth quarter 2019 and one is included in the first quarter 2020. The systems will be delivered during the year 2020. The value of the order will not be disclosed. The Valmet Paper Lab systems will be equipped with a large scope of measurements for the board application quality stamp.

Valmet Paper Lab is extending the scope of Palm Aalen-Neukochen mill where Valmet will also supply a containerboard machine (PM 5) with extensive packages of mill-wide automation and services.

Valmet Paper Lab is an automated board and paper testing laboratory

“Palm Group has awarded Valmet by selecting us as the supplier of their end-product quality analyzer. We have a long cooperation with Palm Group, and it is great to see that we can keep on helping them to move their performance forward, both technology and product support wise. It is a significant milestone that the 300th Valmet Paper Lab unit will be delivered to the site where Valmet also supplies the world’s largest containerboard machine,” says Bogdan Pavlovic, Business Manager, Board and Paper Analyzers, Valmet.

Technical details about the delivery

Valmet Paper Lab is a modular and scalable automated paper testing system for grades of paper and board. With the widest selection of industry-standard tests on the market, reporting can detail over 400 properties. The testing system is based on several decades of automated paper testing experience with 300 units delivered to paper and board mills around the world.

Valmet Paper Lab provides an easy-to-learn and intuitive tool for paper and board property testing which together with Valmet’s Industrial Internet remote support can take the automated laboratory’s performance to a new level.

Information about the customer Papierfabrik Palm

Palm is one of the leading companies in the European paper industry and Germany's largest family-owned business in the paper industry. The Palm Group is divided into the paper division with its 5 paper mills for the manufacture of paper and the packaging division with 28 corrugated cardboard plants. The third pillar of Palm's operations, which encompasses the purchasing of raw materials for all its papers, and corrugated boards made from 100% recycled paper are joined under the umbrella of Palm Recycling consisting of two recycling companies. The plant in Aalen-Neukochen is the origin and the head office of both the Palm Group and Papierfabrik Palm.

Read more about Valmet Paper Lab: https://www.valmet.com/paperlab

Valmet and Orora Limited have signed a multi-year Mill Maintenance Outsourcing (MMO) agreement to continue taking care of the site maintenance of Orora’s Botany B9 board making line in New South Wales, Australia.

In addition to the MMO agreement, Valmet and Orora have signed a Performance Agreement targeting clear and systematic production and maintenance improvements. Both agreements include Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) solutions to provide a live link between customer and Valmet experts for process optimization. The value of the agreements will not be disclosed. The renewed MMO agreement will be effective as of July 1, 2020.

“Valmet is one of our key performance development partners, supporting B9’s operation and improvement since the start up in 2012. We have worked collaboratively since then with progressive improvements and achievements in key areas such as productivity and cost reduction. This is the second renewal of our MMO and Performance Agreements and we look forward to further success in our cooperation with Valmet. Our objective is to ensure the B9 facility becomes an industry benchmark in all areas of efficiency and cost,” says Craig Nicol, General Manager Operations, Botany Mill.

“We are fully engaged and integrated into the B9 Operations team and have been working side by side to deliver progressive development since the machine’s start-up. The renewal of the MMO agreement is the best acknowledgement for the achievements over the years together with Orora. We’re delighted to be able to share the journey forward with the B9 team and to help continuously optimize the performance of our teams and our equipment and processes,” says Jaegen Peet, Director, Australia and New Zealand region, Valmet.

The long-term relationship further strengthened by Performance Agreement

Valmet has previously supplied the complete B9 containerboard line to Orora, started up in 2012. After the start-up, Valmet took full responsibility of the establishment of maintenance operations, site maintenance services including utilities and management of specific improvement projects.

The ongoing Performance Agreement was renewed for a second time in 2019 with targets and objectives focused on cost outperformance and targeted machine efficiency improvements. The results of the collaboration have been positive considering the previous annual production record was exceeded in 2019 and a new 24-hour production record was set in mid-January 2020.

The Performance Agreement includes access to the Valmet Customer Portal, that will provide an interface for both parties to easily and quickly access visualized data and VII solutions. Although Valmet’s remote services have been utilized since the machine’s start-up, the Valmet Performance Center will now offer the customer a new channel to reach Valmet’s specialists for remote support and case studies. The new agreement also includes comprehensive and expanded automation services.

About Orora Limited

Orora Limited is a public listed company, offering a range of tailored packaging and visual communication solutions. The business employs more than 6,800 people in seven counties. Orora is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Located in Botany, New South Wales, Orora’s Botany Mill produces high quality recycled packaging paper, which is then primarily converted into corrugated board by Orora’s Fibre Packaging businesses.

As announced, Japanese company Nippon Paper Group has signed an agreement with Orora to acquire its paperboard fibre-based packaging business in Australia and New Zealand. The agreement involves Nippon Paper’s consolidated subsidiary Australia Paper (AP). The transaction is expected to be finalized around the end of Q1 2020.

Valmet will supply a complete mill-wide Valmet DNA Distributed Control System (DCS) to JK Paper Limited for their upcoming board project at Fort Songadh Mill in India. JK Paper selected Valmet’s automation system based on good references in technology, service support and low ownership costs. The installation is scheduled to start by May 2020.

The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the first quarter 2020. The value of the order is not disclosed.

“We are investing in advanced and proven technologies in the mill, with a target to bring high-quality product to Indian market and grow our business further. Valmet is one of our key partners and we are working closely together on the new Coated Board Machine. We are looking forward to continue the cooperation with them on the automation system to bring the mill to a new level,” says S.K. Jain, Head (Packaging Board Project) of JK Paper Limited.

“We are happy to be selected to provide a complete DCS solution to JK Paper. The solution will ensure the customer easier, more efficient and secured operation and maintenance through common operator interface and engineering environment,” says Pravin Tripathi, Head of Sales & Services, Automation, India, Valmet.

Technical details about the delivery

Valmet’s delivery includes the design, engineering, manufacturing, factory acceptance test and installation of Valmet DNA DCS. The mill-wide DCS system will cover the control of paper machine, pulp mill, recovery island and power block sections. All controls are in one platform that allows users easy access the data and collaborate. It will also help in synergizing Valmet Industrial Internet offering for any optimization needs in future.

JK Paper has also placed an additional order for Valmet DNA DCS of Power Block for their Sirpur unit.

Information about the customer JK Paper Limited

JK Paper was established in 1962 with an integrated pulp and paper plant. JK Paper has three large integrated paper manufacturing units, JK Paper Mills, Rayagada, Odisha, Central Pulp Mills, Songadh, Gujarat and Sirpur paper mills, Telangana with a combined annual capacity of 625,000 TPA. It is the market leader in Branded Copier paper segment and leading players in Coated Paper and high-end Packaging Boards in India. It offers a wide premium quality paper and board product range. Subsequent to commissioning of the new Board Machine, the overall production shall increase to 800,000 TPA.

Valmet will supply a new sizing section with a hard nip sizer to Asia Paper Manufacturing at Sihwa Mill in the Republic of Korea. The main target for the rebuild of paper machine PM 1 is to increase strength properties of produced container and gypsum board grades. The start-up of the rebuilt paper machine is scheduled for the second half of 2021.

The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the first quarter 2020. The value of the order will not be disclosed. The total value of an order of this type is typically around EUR 5-10 million.

“Valmet was able to offer technical advantages to produce high quality gypsum and testliner board grades with low raw material cost. We were able to get proof for those targets as we run pilot trials at Valmet’s Paper Technology Center in Finland. We also visited a reference mill, which has an OptiSizer Hard sizer. It is important to have a supplier who we can trust and who has a good reputation,” says Kyoung-Taek Lee, Vice Mill Manager of Asia Paper.

“We came up with a solution where the customer is able to reduce basic weight without sacrificing strength properties. Asia Paper was very interested in a non-contact starch application method for recycled board because it reduces the wear of consumables, and thus improves time efficiency of the machine. There is no competing technology at the moment,” says Kwon Tae-Yeon, Sales Manager, Valmet.

Technical details of the delivery  

Valmet's delivery will include an OptiSizer Hard sizer with hard nip and spray application, a TurnFloat web turning device, surface size preparation and supply systems, Valmet DNA machine control and Valmet IQ quality control systems.

Compared to conventional sizer, OptiSizer Hard has a pair of hard covered nip rolls. Starch is sprayed on the nip rolls. In addition to increased surface strength, OptiSizer Hard improves also the internal strength values of produced board. Starch is dosed in the roll nip with higher nip pressure, which increases the density of fibers. This leads into better strength properties.

“Asia Paper is expecting a lot of product quality improvement based on Valmet’s new technology and wishes to continue good cooperation with Valmet for further development,” says Dong-Kyu Kim, Production Manager of Asia Paper.

The 5,900-mm-wide (wire) PM 1 produces testliner and gypsum board grades with a basis weight range of 80–300 g/m². The design speed of the new parts will be 850 m/min. The daily design capacity will be approximately 1,100 tonnes depending on the produced grade.

Information about the customer Asia Paper

Since its foundation in 1958, Asia Paper Mfg. Co., Ltd. has specialized in the production of kraft paper, gypsum linerboards and testliner. Asia Paper is highly regarded in Korea, not only as the country's first industrial enterprise, but also for the high quality of its products and modern production processes.

Valmet has completed the co-determination negotiations in the Fabrics Business Unit’s operations in Tampere, Finland. The negotiations were started on January 21, 2020. The target is to ensure the unit’s profitability and future competitiveness.

Valmet will relocate the dryer fabric and wide filter fabric production from Finland to Portugal. As a consequence of the relocation and re-organizing of the work, the need for workforce reduction in Tampere will be 78 persons mainly during 2021. In addition, the possibility for temporary lay-offs and part-time work remains if capacity adjustments need to be done later this year. For those affected by the reductions, Valmet will provide support measures like support for studies and re-employment.

Earlier Valmet estimated that the co-determination negotiations would lead to a workforce reduction of 90 persons at the maximum and possible lay-offs and part-time work.

Fabrics Business Unit employs altogether approximately 500 persons in Tampere. Fabrics develops and manufactures press felts, shoe press belts, dryer fabrics and wide filter fabrics in Tampere. Valmet’s location in Portugal, to which the dryer fabric and wide filter fabric production is relocated, develops and manufactures filter fabrics and other industrial textiles.

Valmet will supply a coated board making line (PM 2) with extensive packages of automation and Industrial Internet solutions for APP’s Guangxi Jingui Pulp and Paper’s (GJPP) Qinzhou mill in China. The start-up is scheduled for 2021.

The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the first quarter 2020. The value of the order will not be disclosed. The total value of an order of this type and scope is typically around EUR 150-200 million.

When started-up, PM 2 will be the world’s fastest and very modern coated board making machine with the highest capacity. It will follow the footsteps of APP’s Ningbo PM 4 machine that was started-up in 2014 and is currently the fastest folding box board (FBB) machine in the world. 

“The most important target for GJPP was that PM 2 will be a high-capacity board machine line with state-of-the-art technology. The customer also emphasized the importance of low operating cost. Valmet’s coated board line and its very low energy and water consumption values were proven to be the lowest ones when comparing to competitors,” says Timo Saresvuo, Senior Sales Manager, Valmet.

Technical information about Valmet’s delivery

Valmet's delivery for PM 2 will include a high-speed coated board making line from broke collection to reel and winders. Three OptiFlo Foudrinier headboxes, OptiFormer Multi forming section and OptiPress Linear press section produce high-quality base board. Four OptiCoat Jet blade coating stations ensure the high coating quality. OptiCoat Dry air dryers are very energy efficient in addition to maintaining the high coating quality. The delivery will also include complete process ventilation system for board machine with OptiAir high humidity hood and heat recovery. Center-driven OptiReel Linear reel combined with two OptiWin Drum two-drum winders with Dual Unwind deliver substantially high capacity level without any compromises on safety.

The wide automation package includes Valmet DNA Automation System for process and drive controls as well as runnability and condition monitoring. The Valmet IQ Quality Management Solution features scanning measurements, related machine and cross direction controls and profilers.

The delivery will also include a comprehensive Paper Machine Clothing, spare parts and consumables packages. The start-up and the further optimization of the new board machine will be supported remotely from Valmet Performance Center utilizing the latest Industrial Internet solutions. Data-based and proactive remote support is fast and efficient way to ensure that the machine is meeting the planned start-up curve.

The 8,850-mm-wide (wire) board machine will produce ivory board grades (folding boxboard, FBB) with the basis weight range of 190-300 g/m². The design speed of the machine will be 1,450 m/min and the daily capacity approx. 3,800 tonnes.

Information about the customer Guangxi Jingui Pulp and Paper

Guangxi Jingui Pulp and Paper was formally established in 2003 and is a part of APP-China. Total annual production volume of APP’s mills reached 11 million tons. Today, APP-China is delivering quality products to meet the growing global demand for tissue, packaging and paper from customers all over the world. Guangxi Jingui Pulp & Paper employs more than 1,500 employees.