Stora Enso arranged a virtual inauguration ceremony to celebrate the successful conversion of the Oulu Mill which was transformed from paper production into high-quality kraftliner production. The Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, inaugurated the mill. Oulu is Stora Enso’s second successful conversion, following Varkaus Mill, inaugurated in 2016.

The EUR 350 million conversion project proceeded according to plan, from the investment decision made in May 2019 to the start of the commercial deliveries in the first quarter of 2021. The current ramp-up phase is proceeding ahead of plan, and the customer feedback has been positive. The new machine is estimated to reach its designed annual production capacity of 450 000 tonnes by the end of the June 2021.

“Stora Enso has a long and proud history of being able to transform, innovate and embrace the future. Today’s inauguration celebrates a successfully completed project. Packaging already today represents more than 40% of our total sales. The additional kraftliner capacity in Oulu enables us to further strengthen Stora Enso’s offering in the global markets with significant room for growth,” says Annica Bresky, Stora Enso’s President and CEO.

The product, AvantForte^TM by Stora Enso, has three fibre layers, making it the strongest kraftliner in Stora Enso’s portfolio. Packaging applications include fresh, fatty or moist food, as well as high-end e‑commerce packaging. Customers with demanding packaging end-uses that require strength, purity and strong visual appearance features benefit from Oulu’s new product. The market demand for the product is strong, as the global containerboard demand is forecasted to grow +2% per annum.

“It is very rewarding to enable more premium capacity for the booming containerboard market. The pandemic has clearly played a role in changing consumer habits, such as online shopping and healthy eating — they are both areas in which renewable packaging materials play an important role. Now, with AvantForte, our strong quality kraftliner from Oulu, we have a new high-end product selection that we can offer to our customers,” says Hannu Kasurinen, Executive Vice President, Packaging Materials division.

The investment included a conversion of paper machine 7 into a world-class production line for virgin-fibre based kraftliner as well as the modification of the pulp mill and drying machine for unbleached brown pulp. In addition, Stora Enso invested EUR 40 million to enhance the mill’s environmental performance.

Part of the bioeconomy, Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper. We believe that everything that is made from fossil-based materials today can be made from a tree tomorrow. Stora Enso has some 23 000 employees, and sales in over 50 countries. Our sales in 2020 were EUR 8.6 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Oy (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm AB (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) storaenso.com

The new Tissue rewinder, located in the town of Dej in Romania, was started up thanks to the field support of the A.Celli team and the precious collaboration of the Romanian team.

It is with pride that we announce that the new E-WIND® T100 Tissue rewinder supplied to the prestigious Romanian company MG TEC Industry S.r.l was successfully started up at the end of April in full compliance with the project objectives in terms of timing and product quality agreed with the customer

MG TEC Industry isa new Romanian company founded in 2018 in the Transylvanian town of Dej. The main objective of their project is the construction of a greenfield plant focused on the development of a production line for tissue paper, absorbent products, hygienic and sanitary products.

The A.Celli E-WIND T100® will be a part of the Tissue line dedicated to the production of paper with a width of 2850 mm and a basis weight ranging from 13 to 45 gsm. Thanks to the line's operating speed of 1600 m/min, it will be possible to produce up to 100 tons per day of the highest quality tissue paper.

Another success that, combined with the satisfaction of MG TEC Industry S.r.l., makes us more and more proud of our technology dedicated to the slitting and winding/rewinding of any type of paper on the market.

Mr. Hasmasan Vasile, MG TEC Industry Plant Administrator, says: “Special thanks go to our operators who have successfully managed all the start-up steps despite the circumstances caused by the pandemic. The assistance of the A.Celli team was fundamental: we were able to count on excellent support both on the field and remotely, directly from Italy. "

Sappi Europe announces the appointment of Flavio Froehli as Vice President, Marketing & Sales with immediate effect for the entire Sappi Europe portfolio reporting to Marco Eikelenboom, Chief Executive Officer, Sappi Europe. Flavio holds an MBA from University of Minnesota and Vienna University of Economics & Business. He is an experienced marketing & sales executive with an extensive background in the Paper, Packaging & Pulp industry.

Flavio joined Sappi as Sales Director, Graphics with the acquisition of M-real Graphics in 2008. Since joining Sappi, he was involved in several change initiatives. In his latest capacity as Director, Business Strategy & Development, appointed in 2018, he was also in charge of leading a cross-functional, cross-business team of collaborative experts accelerating Sappi’s transition into growth markets by identifying, evaluating, and selecting products that are today being manufactured on originally Graphics-dedicated machines.

With the aim of driving commercial excellence, this position strengthens the groups One Sappi philosophy and in parallel supports Sappi’s Thrive25 ambitions of accelerating a transition into growth markets. This will further reinforce the position of Sappi Europe as a sustainably resilient company, thriving to be a systemically relevant partner for its customers in the Graphics, Packaging and Speciality papers markets.

Next to the existing Portfolio Management and Sales & Marketing Operations structure, Flavio will be supported by a seasoned management team of Sales Directors who bring a wealth of experience in their respective market segments. John Clinton, Sales Director Commercial Print, responsible for Sales of our WFC and WFU portfolio. Antti Makkonen, Sales Director Publishing and Export, responsible for the Kirkniemi product portfolio and all product sales outside of Europe. Michael Bethge, Sales Director Speciality Papers, responsible for Sales of  Flexible packaging products, Release Papers (CCK, Glassine) and Label Papers. Luis Mata, Sales Director Packaging and Digital Solutions, responsible for Sales of Paperboard and Containerboard, as well as the Dye Sublimation and Digital Imaging paper portfolio.

About Sappi

Sappi is a leading global provider of sustainable woodfibre products and solutions, in the fields of Dissolving pulp, Printing papers, Packaging and speciality papers, Casting and release papers, Biomaterials and Bio-energy. As a company that relies on renewable natural resources, sustainability is at our core. Sappi European mills hold chain of custody certifications under the Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC™ C015022) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC/07-32-76) systems. Our papers are produced in mills accredited with ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 50 001 and OHSAS 18001 certification. We have EMAS registration at 5 of our 10 mills in Europe.

Sappi Europe is a division of Sappi Limited (JSE), headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with 12,500 employees and 19 production facilities on three continents in nine countries, 37 sales offices globally, and customers in over 150 countries around the world. Learn more about Sappi at www.sappi.com.

Nine Dragons Paper, the biggest manufacturer of packaging paper in China, has commissioned Voith to build and deliver three XcelLine paper machines for the production of high performance testliner and white top testliner. The three lines will further strengthen the paper manufacturer’s leading position in the packaging paper segment.

• Voith’s technological performance as decisive factor in winning the order.
• Significant capacity expansion reinforces Nine Dragons’ leading position in China’s packaging paper industry.

“We are delighted to have received the orders from China’s largest packaging paper manufacturer Nine Dragons and we look forward to our renewed collaboration on a partnership basis,” says Hanson Zhao, Vice President Sales & Application Asia at Voith Paper.

The planned daily production volume of the three identical paper machines is especially high: approximately 2,400 metric tons each, at production speeds of 1,400 m/min. In order to meet these requirements, the components must be extremely high-performing and robust. The elaborate former design of the machines, which are equipped with a DuoFormer DII E, allows for the required speed with high basis weights at the same time. The press sections each feature a Triple NipcoFlex press, which ensures excellent surface smoothness of white top liner. Due to the double unwind configuration and a fully automated full reel change, the high-performance TwinDrive winder enables fast and efficient winding and thereby ensures a winder capacity that is up to 20 percent higher than conventional unwinding systems.

The commissioning of the machines is planned for 2022 and 2023.

About the Voith Group
The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of plants, products, services, and digital applications, Voith sets standards in the markets for energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith today has more than 20,000 employees, sales of €4.2 billion and locations in over 60 countries worldwide, and is thus one of Europe’s larger family-owned companies.

The Group Division Voith Paper is part of the Voith Group. As the full-line supplier to the paper industry, it provides the largest range of technologies, services, and products on the market, and offers paper manufacturers integrated solutions from a single source. The company’s continuous stream of innovations facilitates resource-conserving production and helps customers minimize their carbon footprint. With its comprehensive automation products and leading digitalization solutions from the Papermaking 4.0 portfolio, Voith offers its customers state-of-the-art digital technologies to improve plant availability and efficiency for all sections of the production process.

International technology group ANDRITZ has received an order to supply a sulfuric acid plant for Klabin’s Ortigueira mill in Brazil.

The plant will be the first of its kind worldwide and is designed to produce 150 tons of commercial-grade (>98%) sulfuric acid per day from concentrated odorous gases and elemental sulfur. It will serve Klabin’s Puma I and Puma II pulp lines at Ortigueira once completed and make Klabin’s Ortigueira site completely self-sufficient in sulfuric acid.

ANDRITZ will supply technologies on EPCC basis for elemental sulfur handling, sulfur and Concentrated Non-Condensable Gases (CNCG) combustion to form sulfur dioxide (SO₂), sulfur dioxide conversion into concentrated (98% by wt.) sulfuric acid, and a flue gas handling system. The sulfuric acid plant uses wet-gas sulfuric acid (WSA) technology developed by Haldor Topsoe. The WSA technology has been proven in more than 150 references in many industries.

Once the sulfuric acid plant has been started up, it will help Klabin to control the sodium and sulfur (Na/S) balance and the sulfidity of the mill. Also, the resource efficiency of the Ortigueira site will be improved because less sulfate needs to be discharged due to the optimized Na/S balance, there is less truck traffic to the mill due to the chemical savings, and there is also less hazardous truck traffic because sulfur is transported in solid form and not as an acid. The sulfuric acid plant meets very strict air emission limits and does not produce any waste streams.

The sulfuric acid plant producing commercial-grade, concentrated sulfuric acid for Klabin’s Ortigueira facility will be the world’s first. © ANDRITZ

The technology used for this plant is based on ANDRITZ’s self-developed A-Recovery+ concept that enables pulp mills to extract side streams from the pulping process and turn them into commercial-grade products/commodities. ANDRITZ recently completed successful start-up of the world’s first methanol purification plant based on the A-Recovery+ concept. A-Recovery+ now also offers solutions for the treatment of odorous gases in the pulp and paper industry as well as for production of sulfuric acid from these gases.

ANDRITZ GROUP
International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems and services for the pulp and paper industry, the hydropower sector, the metals processing and forming industry, pumps, solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, as well as animal feed and biomass pelleting. Plants for power generation, flue gas cleaning, recycling, and the production of nonwovens and panelboard complete the global product and service offering. Innovative products and services in the industrial digitalization sector are offered under the brand name Metris and help customers to make their plants more user-friendly, efficient and profitable. The publicly listed group has around 26,950 employees and more than 280 locations in over 40 countries.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER
ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides equipment, systems, complete plants and services for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue. The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials, increased production efficiency and sustainability as well as lower overall operating costs. Boilers for power generation, flue gas cleaning systems, plants for the production of nonwovens and panelboard (MDF), as well as recycling and shredding solutions for various waste materials also form a part of this business area. State-of-the-art IIoT technologies as part of Metris digitalization solutions complete the comprehensive product offering.

ANDRITZ Ingeniería, SA, part of international technology Group ANDRITZ, has received an order from Smurfit Kappa Nervion to provide industrial maintenance services for their mill in Iurreta, Spain.

Smurfit Kappa Nervion in Spain © ANDRITZ

The ANDRITZ maintenance team will provide support during scheduled maintenance and emergency maintenance activities conducted in the course of routine operations and shutdowns, working together seamlessly with the current Smurfit Kappa maintenance team and providing proven process maintenance expertise to ensure high plant reliability, availability, and efficiency. This will help the customer to reach a high level of production at a competitive cost.

Smurfit Kappa Nervion is part of the Smurfit Kappa Group, Europe's leading corrugated packaging company and one of the leading paper-based packaging companies globally.

Dunn Paper selected Toscotec for the rebuild of the wet section of PM2 at its Menominee paper mill in Michigan, USA. The paper machine produces specialty papers including MG grades and flexible packaging products.

In 2017, Toscotec had installed a custom-made TT Headbox at Dunn Paper’s St. Catharines paper mill in Canada. Based on the successful experience of this rebuild, Dunn Paper Menominee asked Toscotec to create a preliminary engineering solution that met PM2’s production and quality targets. Finally, Dunn Paper awarded the rebuild order to Toscotec, valuing the importance of a fully-customized technical offer based on the analysis of the machine’s operating data. Toscotec will supply the approach flow system, and a hydraulic TT Headbox-SL fitted with dilution control. The service package includes erection supervision, commissioning, and start-up assistance. 

Steve Michalko, Dunn Paper Manufacturing Director, says: “In recent years Dunn Paper has been making significant investments into our mills and processes in order to better ourselves and meet the demands of the ever changing market and standards of our growing customer base. By upgrading to a Toscotec dilution profiled headbox in addition to their screening and water system improvements, we will improve the uniformity and formation of our base sheet, increasing our capability to meet current and future customer requirements. A big thanks to Toscotec for helping with this mill improvement.”

Fabrizio Charrier, Toscotec Sales Manager, says, “Having the chance to support Dunn Paper Menominee on this rebuild makes me very proud. Toscotec’s TT Headbox-SL has a consolidated design that has proved successful on numerous references over the years. This important project confirms that Toscotec can rebuild all sections of the paper machine, and this will open up new opportunities for Toscotec in North America to supply key paper machine components, project studies and tailor-made solutions.”

About Dunn Paper
Established in 1924, Dunn Paper is a tissue and specialty paper manufacturer and converter. It operates 7 paper mills throughout the USA and Canada. With a focus on product development and sustainability, Dunn Paper caters to top brands and converters across North America, creating innovative sustainable paper products for food services, the medical and retail industries, as well as hygiene products. 

For further information, please contact:
Fabrizio Charrier, Sales Manager, Toscotec Paper & Board division, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mitsubishi HiTec Paper is forced to raise the prices for its coated specialty papers again. The reason for this is the recently continued rise in prices for energy and raw materials. The price adjustments of up to 10% apply to deliveries from June 1, 2021.

Customers are contacted directly by the Mitsubishi sales team.

Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Europe GmbH is a German subsidiary of Mitsubishi Paper Mills Ltd., Japan, one of the world's leading manufacturers of specialty paper. The roughly 770 employees at Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Europe produce high-quality direct thermal, inkjet, carbonless, label and barrier papers for flexible packaging at two tradition-rich locations in Bielefeld and Flensburg. Each factory stands out for own base paper production, state-of-the-art production machinery and innovative coating technologies. Through its dense global sales network, Mitsubishi HiTec Paper Europe supplies a full range of specialty papers for many applications and printing technologies – and is a highly capable partner whenever customized coated paper solutions are required.

Metsä Board, the leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and part of Metsä Group, has designed a light but strong, easily recyclable packaging for the new Chopin Organic Rye Vodka range at its Excellence Centre in Äänekoski, Finland.

For Podlaska Wytwórnia Wódek “Polmos” S.A., the family-owned distillery that produces the Chopin Vodka brand, it was important that the packaging conveyed the brand ethos, as Joanna Dolińczyk, Marketing Coordinator, Chopin Vodka brand explains: “When we were looking for inspiration for the packaging design of our organic product, we wanted the packaging to reflect its organic production process. We had an extremely enthusiastic vision to create a truly organic and highly ecological packaging with three main goals: purity, whiteness and simplicity.”

The packaging is manufactured using a protective F-flute, with all layers made of lightweight MetsäBoard Natural WKL Bright white kraftliner. The all-white litho-laminated packaging has a light and robust structure based on locking flaps that require no glue. No adhesive, combined with minimal coverage of low migration inks with water-based varnishing, created a package that is safe, stylish and easy to recycle. The packaging was manufactured by Prost-Key Packaging in Poland.

The opening mechanism allows the packaging to be opened and closed several times with ease, whilst also locking the bottle into place. The curved double folds add strength and reveals the bottle when viewed from the side. The whiteness of the design features the word ‘organic’ embossed on the sides and emphasises purity.

Iiro Numminen, Structural Packaging Designer, Metsä Board, commented: “The packaging communicates the brands promise to the consumer in every way. Easy recyclability was also a factor in the design concept as the importance of circular economy is paramount.”

The package was designed and tested at Metsä Board’s Excellence Centre that utilises cutting-edge technology for R&D, packaging design, and paperboard and packaging performance. Here the ambition is to accelerate material and packaging innovation and provide a collaboration platform for customers and technology partners globally.

The packaging is manufactured using the lightweight MetsäBoard Natural WKL Bright white kraftliner, produced at Metsä Board Husum mill. Its fresh fibres are 100% traceable to sustainably managed Northern European forests.

Metsä Board
www.metsaboard.com

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards. We focus on lightweight and high-quality folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners. The pure fresh fibres we use in our products are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed northern forests. We are a forerunner in sustainability, and  we aim for completely fossil free mills and raw materials by 2030.

Together with our customers we develop innovative packaging solutions to create better consumer experiences with less environmental impact. In 2020, our sales totalled EUR 1.9 billion, and we have about 2,400 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from North Pacific Paper Company (NORPAC) to supply a major expansion of the OCC line for its mill in Longview, Washington, USA.

Start-up is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.

ANDRITZ will install a FibreFlow drum pulper, type FFD450EE, as well as various fiber cleaning and reject handling equipment to upgrade the existing OCC line and expand the mill’s production of lightweight recycled packaging papers. The stock preparation system features a capacity of 1,200 bdmt/d and processes a mix of OCC and mixed waste as raw material.

The FibreFlow Drum pulper is a complete pulping system in one unit and ensures best accept quality thanks to the gentle pulping concept and efficient removal of coarse contaminants with minimum fiber loss.

ANDRITZ FibreFlow drum pulper © ANDRITZ

The new drum pulper was ordered in advance, recently arrived at the port of Longview and is currently being moved to the NORPAC mill. "We're excited to reach a big milestone in our work to achieve our vision of opening new markets, providing low-carbon, recycled packaging papers and retaining our talented, innovative workforce," said NORPAC CEO Craig Anneberg. "The new FibreFlow drum is up to the tough job of keeping wastepaper out of landfills and turning it into new, recycled products – that's good for jobs and our environment. I'm also pleased NORPAC can support our local economic recovery in real-time with construction jobs that will make our new facility operational."

North Pacific is an independent paper company delivering a broad range of high-quality papers to customers across the United States and around the world. NORPAC makes high-quality and environmentally conscious copy paper as well as printing and publishing stock.

ANDRITZ GROUP

International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems and services for the pulp and paper industry, the hydropower sector, the metals processing and forming industry, pumps, solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, as well as animal feed and biomass pelleting. Plants for power generation, flue gas cleaning, recycling, and the production of nonwovens and panelboard complete the global product and service offering. Innovative products and services in the industrial digitalization sector are offered under the brand name Metris and help customers to make their plants more user-friendly, efficient and profitable. The publicly listed group has around 26,950 employees and more than 280 locations in over 40 countries.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER ANDRITZ

Pulp & Paper provides equipment, systems, complete plants and services for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue. The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials, increased production efficiency and sustainability as well as lower overall operating costs. Boilers for power generation, flue gas cleaning systems, plants for the production of nonwovens and panelboard (MDF), as well as recycling and shredding solutions for various waste materials also form a part of this business area. State-of-the-art IIoT technologies as part of Metris digitalization solutions complete the comprehensive product offering.