The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has requested the USD1.2-billion Lee & Man Paper Plant in Hau Giang Province to halt operations due to public concerns over its environmental impact.

According to Hoang Van Thuc, Deputy Director of the ministry's General Department of Environment, following articles about environmental risks posed by the plant, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc urged the ministry to work with environmental police and provincial authorities to conduct an investigation into the plant.

Thuc also said that the plant was also requested to cease operations during the investigation.

The plant located near the Hau River is the largest of its kind in Vietnam and is among the five biggest paper plants in the world.

Lee & Man conducted an environmental impact assessment for the plant in 2008. According to the report, the plant would discharge around 28,500 tonnes of sodium hydroxide into the Hau River every year.

It would discharge 200-300 cubic metres in waste water compared to just 10-20 tonnes seen in more modern production lines.

However, in a report to the government, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that the large volume of toxins could disrupt the Hau River’s ecosystem by destroying seafood resources and seriously affect aquaculture in the Mekong Delta which accounts for 70% for the country’s fisheries and aquaculture production.

VASEP general secretary Truong Dinh Hoe said that there should be a new environmental impact assessment based on the changing situation in the Mekong Delta due to the effect of global warming.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has asked Lee & Man to review the environmental assessment report for the paper project to submit to the ministry for consideration and install automatic wastewater monitoring systems.

Besides the paper plant, Lee & Man has also invested in several other projects in Chau Thanh District, Hau Giang Province, including a pulp factory and a thermal power plant, an international seaport and a wastewater treatment facility.

The papermaking sector of the German energy company Voith Group has introduced a "Papermaking, Next level" strategy to make its papermaking process in China more environmentally friendly, according to a company executive.

"The strategy aims to increase the efficiency, productivity and quality of the entire paper production process, so as to bring about a more intelligent, cost-effective and sustainable process environment," said Dr. Gregor Wiche, the product & services president of Voith Paper Asia.

China is making positive changes in the papermaking industry to adopt clean and energy-saving technologies to strengthen environmental management. Stricter laws have pushed the industry towards being more environmentally friendly and energy efficient, according to Wiche.

"The past decade has seen China's papermaking equipment technology growing by leaps and bounds. About one-third [of] equipment can reach the world-class levels.

"Although digitization has a huge impact on papermaking in China, domestic paper industry has been actively developing and adopting advanced clean production and energy saving technology and equipment," said Wiche.

Voith Paper has nearly 2,000 employees and 13 branches in the Asia Pacific region. From the year 2006 to 2016, Voith has installed 54 sets of new paper machines in China. The production capacity is up to 1.72 billion tons.

The papermaking base in Kunshan, Zhejiang province, has become the world's largest papermaking machinery production base of Voith. During the past 5 years, Voith Paper has invested over 2 billion euros in the Kunshan base.

Robert Williams of Freedom Corrugated surpasses 8,300+ consecutive successful splices

An impressive new world record of 8,386 consecutive, successful splices has been set by Robert Williams of Freedom Corrugated, a BW Papersystems’ customer, in Hazleton, PA. Williams has successfully made every splice he’s attempted since February 5, 2015, and his record is growing daily as he continues to tally up more successful splices. 

“It was a complete team effort,” Williams said, when asked about the secret of his success. “There was a lot of support from maintenance and great communication up and down the corrugator.”

Representatives from BW Papersystems, part of the Barry-Wehmiller family, and Freedom Corrugated celebrated the new record with Williams and presented him with a MarquipWardUnited Century Club, World Champion Splicer Operator Belt.

The record was set in coordination with the MarquipWardUnited Century Club Program in which operators are recognized for achieving 100, 500 and 1,000 consecutive splices without a miss. Enrollment in the program requires a training session with MarquipWardUnited Splicer Trainer John Podmolik, who audits the machines, materials and practices before providing detailed instructions on getting the best out of a MarquipWardUnited machine.  

Williams’ world record tops the list of many successful previous world record-holders, including Mike Storm (4,885) and Juan Carlo Cerdas (4,082) from New England Sheets. Before Cerdas, the record was held by Tony Jimenez of Independence Corrugated with 3,741 splices without a miss.  Who will be the next to break the world record?

Following its announcement in September 2016, Stora Enso has finalised the co-determination negotiations regarding the consolidation of manufacturing of corrugated packaging in Finland. Stora Enso’s corrugated packaging plant in Heinola will be closed permanently and packaging manufacturing transferred to the Lahti plant. The need for personnel reduction is expected to be 47 employees.

As part of the consolidation, Stora Enso will invest approximately EUR 19 million in new machinery and supporting infrastructure in Lahti. The project is expected to be finalised by the end of the first quarter 2018. The objective is to improve profitability and competitiveness by creating a centre of excellence for corrugated packaging in Lahti. Currently, Stora Enso employs approximately 420 people in its containerboard and corrugated packaging businesses in the Lahti–Heinola region.

Stora Enso will make every effort in co-operation with the local community to help the affected personnel find new employment opportunities, and all job openings in other Stora Enso units will be available to those affected.The corrugated packaging production at the Kristiinankaupunki and containerboard production at the Heinola Fluting Mill will not be affected.

For further information, please contact:
Carl Norell, SVP Communications, Packaging Solutions division, tel. +46 722 410 349

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets. Our aim is to replace fossil based materials by innovating and developing new products and services based on wood and other renewable materials. We employ some 26 000 people in more than 35 countries, and our sales in 2015 were EUR 10.0 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Nasdaq Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) on the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. storaenso.com

The family-owned company Gomà-Camps has commissioned Voith with the delivery of the new production line for its Ejea de los Caballeros location in Spain. The production line is designed to sustainably produce high-quality tissue paper. Gomà-Camps is thus continuing its successful strategy as a leading service-oriented provider of high-quality tissue in the south-western Europe markets.

The Chairman of the Board Gomà-Camps Group, Jordi Gomà-Camps Llorens, elaborates on their decision: “After in-depth evaluation of the concepts and technologies available, we decided in favor of a solution from Voith. The TM7 will perfectly harmonize our integration rate and offer even greater quality and flexibility. “
The tissue machine is designed for an operating speed of 2,000 meter per minute and will annually produce 35,000 metric tons of high-quality toilet and towel paper from pulp with a working width of 2.8 meter. Start-up is scheduled for early 2018.

f.l.t.r. CEO Gomà-Camps Group, Maties Gomà-Camps / Bernhard Kohl, Voith Paper, Vice President Sales Projects EMEA/ Chairman of the Board Gomà-Camps Group, Jordi Gomà-Camps Llorens / Marcus Schwier, Voith Paper, Vice President Sales Tissue EMEA

“The new TM7 proves the symbiosis of innovation and quality perfectly, “ explains General Director Gomà-Camps Consumer, J.I. Gonzalez. “We felt the tissue dedication and perfect partnership with Voith in this important project to us. This passion guarantees the success of the project.”

In designing the entire tissue production process, low energy consumption benchmark values are achieved due to the use of the BlueLine product family, focusing also on lowest fresh water and waste water values. The IntensaPulper and the TwinFlow refiner ensure perfect fiber treatment at a high level of short fiber usage. Furthermore, the NipcoFlex T shoe press was a key factor in choosing Voith. With this technology, the need for thermal energy can be substantially reduced and the NipcoFlex T is ideally suited for the production of premium super soft tissue and thus meets the high quality requirements of Gomà-Camps.

The new tissue production line will be equipped with further energy-efficient, operator friendly components and systems, like the MasterJet T headbox, EvoDry T steel Yankee and the EcoHood T. In addition, the effluent plant and the fabrics package as well as QualiFlex press sleeves, the full automation system including the innovative ComCore platform are delivered by Voith. The entire service package consisting of supervision, start-up, installation and optimization complete the delivery.

Gomà-Camps is a family business group founded more than 250 years ago and present on the international market. The Gomà-Camps Group’s mission is to manufacture, process and trade tissue paper and other similar products that provide value added for their customers, shareholders, Gomà-Camps employees, and their social environment.

About Voith Paper
Voith Paper is a corporate division of Voith and is one of the leading partners and pioneers in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimizing the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-conserving products to reduce the use of energy, water and fibers. Furthermore, Voith Paper offers a broad service portfolio for all sections of the paper manufacturing process.

About the company
Voith sets standards in the energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive markets. Founded in 1867, Voith today has about 20,000 employees and earns 4.3 billion euros in sales. It has locations in more than 60 countries and is one of the largest family-owned companies in Europe.
* Excluding the discontinued Group Division Voith Industrial Services.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from Cartulinas CMPC S.A. to upgrade the complete bleaching system at its mill in Maule, Chile, which processes 100% radiata pine for the production of softwood BTMP (bleached thermo-mechanical pulp). Start-up of the upgraded bleaching system is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2017.

ANDRITZ will upgrade the bleaching system at Cartulinas CMPC’s pulp and paper mill in Maule, Chile. Photo ANDRITZ

The ANDRITZ scope of supply encompasses

• components for the existing ANDRITZ screw press that feeds the installed ANDRITZ HC mixer
• a new screw conveyor system to the peroxide high-consistency (PHC) bleaching tower
• a new ANDRITZ PHC bleaching tower including an integrated medium-consistency (MC) pump
• a new pulp screw press including dilution conveyor

as well as

• a new MC pump to feed the pulp to the existing storage tower.

The bleaching system upgrade by ANDRITZ will lead to an increase in BTMP production from 30 to 37 admt/h, while at the same time substantially reducing energy consumption per ton of pulp produced.

ANDRITZ’s proven advanced bleaching technology for mechanical pulping processes, the high reliability of its systems, equipment, and components as well as the long-term and successful business relationship between the two companies were decisive for Cartulinas CMPC to place the order with ANDRITZ.

Cartulinas CMPC S.A., Planta Maule, is one of the leading board producers in America with customers in more than 40 countries worldwide.

The ANDRITZ GROUP
ANDRITZ is a globally leading supplier of plants, equipment, and services for hydropower stations, the pulp and paper industry, the metalworking and steel industries, and for solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors. The publicly listed technology Group is headquartered in Graz, Austria, and has a staff of approximately 25,500 employees. ANDRITZ operates over 250 sites worldwide.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER
ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER is a leading global supplier of equipment, systems, and services for the production and processing of all types of pulps, paper, tissue, and cardboard. The technologies cover the processing of logs, annual fibers, and waste paper; the production of chemical pulp, mechanical pulp, and recycled fibers; the recovery and reuse of chemicals; the preparation of paper machine furnish; the production of paper, tissue, and board; the calendering and coating of paper; as well as treatment of reject materials and sludge. The service range includes modernization, rebuilds, spare and wear parts, service and maintenance, as well as machine transfer and second-hand equipment. Biomass, steam, and recovery boilers, as well as gasification plants for power generation, flue gas cleaning plants, plants for the production of nonwovens, dissolving pulp, and panelboards (MDF), as well as recycling plants are also allocated to the business area.

Under the name "XcelLine", Voith has improved and refined its paper machines for all paper grades. The machines from the XcelLine offer fast and easy start-up, excellent value for money, pioneering technologies, ease of use and integrated solutions.

Quality and reliability have always been the outstanding hallmarks of Voith paper machines. As an experienced system vendor, partner to the paper industry and technology leader, Voith has been shaping global paper production for more than 150 years and offers the most extensive range of products and services on the market. The new generation of paper machines stands for "Xcellent Performance" and offers paper manufacturers decisive advantages: optimized individual components, combined with improved interfaces and process flows, result in a significant reduction in project and start-up times.

With its product and service innovations, Voith supports paper manufacturers on their journey into the digital environment. Papermaking 4.0 harnesses ideally matched products, technologies and services to machine performance and in this way ensures more profitable paper production. As a full-line supplier with the largest range of services, components and products on the market, Voith offers paper manufacturers comprehensive expert advice and solutions from a single source. The interaction of Voith BlueLine stock preparation and the new XcelLine paper machines ensures top-class paper production especially in respect of paper quality and machine efficiency.

In recent months, successful start-ups have already been realized with XcelLine paper machines, for example with the installation of two packaging paper machines, Zoucheng PM31 and PM32, for Sun Paper. Just a few hours after start-up the PM31 was producing several hundred tons of marketable paper. Since then it has been running smoothly and stably at a high production level. One month later the PM32 was also successfully commissioned.

One example of a successful XcelLine tissue machine is the Cheng Loong TM16 in Taiwan. It is particularly energy-efficient, as the Yankee dryer hood is heated with steam instead of gas, while the combination with the NipcoFlex T shoe press reduces running costs. With an operating speed of 2,001 m/min the TM 16 is regarded as the world's fastest tissue machine with steam-heated Yankee dryer hood.

About Voith Paper
Voith Paper is a corporate division of Voith and is one of the leading partners and pioneers in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimizing the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-conserving products to reduce the use of energy, water and fibers. Furthermore, Voith Paper offers a broad service portfolio for all sections of the paper manufacturing process.

About the company
Voith sets standards in the energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive markets. Founded in 1867, Voith today has about 20,000 employees and earns 4.3 billion euros in sales. It has locations in more than 60 countries and is one of the largest family-owned companies in Europe.
* Excluding the discontinued Group Division Voith Industrial Services.

Valmet has received a repeat order for a Valmet IQ Process and Quality Vision system (PQV) from Stora Enso Sunila Mill in Kotka, Finland. By monitoring dirt and shives on the mill's pulp drying line 6, the system optimizes both end product quality and line efficiency. The new system will be started up in November 2016. Valmet supplied a similar PQV system for the mill's pulp drying line 4 in 2015.

The order was included in Valmet's third quarter 2016 orders received. Typically the order value of this kind of automation system deliveries is below EUR one million.

"The results reached with the traditional dirt count method on a light table and the PQV correlate well. Additionally, we now have access to real-time dirt count data in the control room without any delay, and this helps us to control our process faster and more precisely than before," says Henrik Antila, Fiber Line Operations Manager, Stora Enso Sunila.

"This solution features excellent dirt count calculation thanks to its highly advanced defect analysis methods that allow constant, real-time detection of small dirt specks and shives on a fast moving web in the pulp drying processes," says Jukka Paananen, Product Manager, On-Line Quality Management Solutions, Automation, Valmet.

Technical information about the delivery

Valmet's PQV delivery to Stora Enso Sunila Mill features a Valmet IQ Web Inspection System (WIS) that consists of a high-definition matrix camera system and a matching light source to capture crystal clear images of defects in the sheet. Located on the pulp drying machine after the drying section, utilization of the PQV system gives the mill efficient and continuous online quality control.

Sunila's operators can follow dirt count numbers on process control system displays in the control room. Also, they can check dirt distribution on a defect map that is available on a separate screen. The PQV provides online proof of Sunila's typically low dirt counts as dirt count quality control is based on measurements traceable to each bale table. Average dirt counts can be included in each customer delivery.

Unlike other web inspection systems, four matrix cameras allow the LED light beam to use an extremely short duration flash for sharp images unaffected by web speed. The camera system is flicker free and safe for human eyes, the short-duration flash requires little power and avoids heat buildup. Image analysis software with advanced detection algorithms detects and classifies even the smallest dirt specks and shives on the web.

Information about the customer Stora Enso Sunila Mill

Stora Enso Sunila Mill is located in Kotka in Southern Finland. The mill produces softwood pulp and lignin. New lignin separation technology was taken into use in 2015 to help Sunila reduce its carbon emissions and start the commercialization of lignin. The mill employs over 150 people and has an annual capacity of 370,000 tonnes of softwood pulp and 45,000 tonnes of kraft lignin.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Twinsaver Group is set to become the largest tissue manufacturer in Sub-Saharan Africa through the installation of a new Toscotec AHEAD-2.0S tissue production line.

Twinsaver Group, the major manufacturer of tissue products in South Africa, announced that they will proceed with a R500 million investment in the country's local manufacturing sector by investing in a state-of-the-art new plant at its Kliprivier operations site in Gauteng, South Africa. The line, supplied by Toscotec, will be started-up in the last quarter of 2017.

Twinsaver Group is mainly focused on a sustainable business and it is a branded organization with innovation and consumers’ needs in the center of the growth strategies. By investing in new capacity, Twinsaver has chosen Toscotec  AHEAD tissue line to improve the production and keep the leadership in the market.

The company ground-breaking ceremony took place in Kliprivier manufacturing site on 7^th October 2016 at the presence of the major country authorities.

The turn-key delivery for the new TM#5 will include a stock preparation system for virgin pulp, an AHEAD-2.0S tissue machine, tissue machine and plant auxiliaries, electrification & control systems. Full engineering, erection, erection supervision, training, start-up and commissioning complete Toscotec scope of supply.

The tissue machine will have a width of 2.75 m and will be designed for 2,000 mpm speed. The new line will produce, among the other grades, high-quality super-soft toilet tissue. The greenfield project will be focused on energy savings and low emission concepts with a great attention to the environment.

About Twinsaver
Twinsaver Group is the number 1 South African manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded tissue products. The product range includes toilet tissue, facial tissues, roller towels, house and leisure and away from home products. Twinsaver Group head-office is located in Bryanston, South Africa, with manufacturing and converting facilities in Kliprivier, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town.

About Toscotec

Toscotec is a turnkey projects supplier to the global paper industry. Since 1948, Toscotec offers complete production lines, plant retrofits, turnkey projects and individual machineries. The Group serves all the leading paper producers with customized solutions, leveraging on the experience gained in more than 60 years of activities.  

Valmet and Kotkamills Oy have signed an extensive automation service agreement. In addition to supporting production processes, the agreement will secure high availability of automation at the entire Kotkamills mill and especially on the new consumer packaging board machine BM 2. This is one of Valmet's most extensive service agreements for automation in Finland to date.

Kotkamills recently converted its printing paper machine PM 2 into BM 2 to produce high-quality barrier board and folding boxboard. The machine was started up in July 2016. Valmet supplied key technology and automation solutions, including automation, information and quality management systems, analyzers, profilers, a machine vision system as well as process and control development services for the grade conversion project.

"We had a limited service agreement with Valmet earlier. With our new BM 2, we felt we now needed more advise and support, since there is still a lot of development work to be done on the new board machine. And Valmet has strong know-how in automation and boardmaking," says Jan Lousa, Project Manager, Electrical Automation, Kotkamills.  

"With the comprehensive services, we will help Kotkamills manage the processes in their entirety, speed up startups, as well as optimize production and end product quality. These services will ensure that the mill can now get everything out of its processes. The service agreement well reflects Valmet's new service approach - the Shared Journey Forward. This offering covers reliability and performance services as well as the introduction of new technologies," points out Emilia Torttila-Miettinen, Customer Service Manager, Services, Automation, Valmet.

Information about Valmet's service agreement

According to the new service agreement, there will be an on-site Valmet service engineer at the Kotkamills mill most of the time. He will participate in mill-wide automation-related maintenance, development and coordination in cooperation with the mill and other partners named by the mill. When needed, the mill will have access to services provided by Valmet's application experts.

Additionally, the agreement includes process performance monitoring and process control upkeep, 24-hour on-call service, spare parts, annual condition check-ups of the automation, quality control as well as process and quality vision systems, analyzer maintenance, antivirus service, regular follow-up and development meetings with the mill, along with reporting through the Valmet portal. Valmet and Kotkamills also signed a development agreement that covers the advanced controls at the digester and causticizing plants.

Information about the customer Kotkamills

Kotkamills Oy makes innovative products out of a renewable natural resource, wood. Its products include high-quality specialty laminating papers Absorbex® and Imprex® as well as ecological sawn products. In 2016, the company started to produce fully recyclable consumer packaging boards in Kotka, Finland. The products are environmentally friendly, recyclable and safe to use.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.