Super User

Super User

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. 

2021 05 12 101118

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.

2016 04 08 083453Mitsubishi 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.

2021 05 07 123955For 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 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.

A.Celli Paper assisted the PT. Dayasa Aria Prima (Dayasa) team in every step of the process to ensure a successful start-up of the paper machine converted to the production of Corrugated Medium by applying PMT technology.

A.Celli Paper is proud to announce that on Saturday March 13th PT. Dayasa Aria Prima (Dayasa), a subsidiary of PT. Fajar Surya Wisesa (SCG - SIAM CEMENT GROUP), has successfully started-up the completely rebuilt PM#1 located in their Gresik plant.

Given the current global situation and the consequent travel restrictions, the start-up was carried out remotely thanks to the continuous support of A.Celli Paper team and a detailed commissioning program with specific documentation.

The 5600 mm wire machine has been converted from the production of coated paper to Corrugated Medium with a design basis weight of 90 gsm at a design speed of 1200mpm.

2021 05 06 123750

The A.Celli Paper/PMT supply included:

  • PMT Shoe Press with Deflection-Controlled Roll
  • Major rebuild of the dryer section with the installation of Vacuum Rolls, Stabilizer Boxes and a new Rope Less Threading System

With the acquisition of PMT and the full integration of the PMT engineering, A.Celli Paper is now in the position to supply machinery equipment for all kind of paper.

This supply will be added to the existing A.Celli E-WIND P100 Paper Rewinder equipped with the Slittomatic™ Web-In automatic slitting units positioning system and with the addition of the spool storage.

The successful rebuild carried out for SCG, which follows the supply of a new paper rewinder in one of their Vietnam plant and the rebuild of an existing rewinder made by another manufacturer, is a great achievement for all our Asian customers.

This is also a perfect demonstration that no matter the obstacles due to the global pandemic, A.Celli will always be by your side.

Commenting on the group’s results, Sappi Chief Executive Officer Steve Binnie said: “I am pleased with the steady recovery from the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. EBITDA continued to improve quarter-on-quarter from a low of US$26m in our third quarter of 2020 through US$98m in the previous quarter to US$112 for the current quarter, with further improvement expected for our third quarter.”

He continued: “The North American and South African regions recorded strong improvements in profitability. This was in contrast to Europe where extended lockdowns and restrictions on economic activity hindered the performance. Covid-19 also severely affected global shipping and container availability, which impacted sales volumes in a number of product categories.

sappi logoOur comprehensive Covid-19 action plan is fully entrenched in all of our operations and employee safety remains a top priority. The rate of employee and contractor infections reduced significantly during the quarter across all regions and as a consequence there was minimal impact on mill operations.”

Looking forward, Binnie stated: “Given the favourable market conditions for DP and packaging and speciality papers, offset partially by the weak graphic paper demand and global logistical challenges, we expect the third quarter EBITDA to improve relative to the second quarter.  However, earnings in the European business will be lower due to rising pulp costs.”

Financial summary for the quarter

  • EBITDA excluding special items US$112 million (Q2 FY20 US$131 million)
  • Net debt US$2,070 million (Q2 FY20 US$1,879 million)
  • Loss for the period US$23 million (Q2 FY20 Profit of US$2 million)
  • EPS excluding special items -1 US cent (Q21 FY20 4 US cents)

 

For the quarter, a strong packaging and specialities performance combined with solid results from dissolving pulp (DP) more than offset the weak demand and margin squeeze in graphic paper.  

A positive highlight for the quarter was the continued rapid recovery of DP markets, with Chinese market prices at the highest levels since May 2012. The key factors supporting the positive sentiment in the sector include continued tight DP supply, low viscose staple fibre (VSF) inventory levels throughout the textile value chain, improved apparel retail demand in the US and Asia which favourably impacted all textile fibre prices, higher paper pulp prices and a continued weaker US$/Renminbi exchange rate. 

Sales volumes in the packaging and specialities segment increased by 25% compared to last year due to a further ramp-up of board products in North America and strong containerboard demand in South Africa. While demand for most categories in Europe was positive, some non-essential products were affected by Covid-19 related lockdowns.

The steady rate of recovery in graphic paper demand over the last two quarters slowed and sales volumes in the segment were 17% lower than the same quarter last year. Capacity closures enabled Sappi to gain market share but pressure on input costs, particularly pulp, and rising delivery charges impacted profitability negatively.

Across all regions logistics issues, including congested networks, shipping line schedule disruptions, lack of containers and vessel space constraints impacted regular customer deliveries, saw a rise in delivery costs and higher freight rates and prevented Sappi from achieving the benefits of improved export market demand, in particular from Europe and South Africa.

In a positive development, new leverage covenants have been agreed with the banking group as Sappi exits the financial covenant suspension period in September 2021. The new covenants will start at 5.50 for December 2021 and reduce quarterly to 4.25 by March 2023.

Outlook

DP market indicators remain positive and demand from our customers currently exceeds our capacity. As at 30 April 2021 the Chinese DP market price was US$1,100 per ton. However, pricing for VSF and other textile fibres has reduced in recent weeks. Much of the benefit from the material recovery of DP prices in the second quarter will be realised in subsequent quarters due to the lag in contractual pricing. A prolonged stronger ZAR/US$ exchange rate will temper some of the pricing benefits for the South African DP segment.

The underlying demand in the packaging and specialities segment in North America and South Africa remains robust and our focus is shifting to improving margins through machine efficiencies, mix optimisation and price realisation. However, as long as there is uncertainty in Europe regarding the continuing lockdowns due to Covid-19, the sluggish economic activity in this region is expected to impact demand for non-essential consumer products.

Graphic paper markets remain challenging and demand is still well below the long term pre-Covid-19 trend levels. The persistent weak demand in Europe is likely to keep the market in oversupply and diminish pricing power. The lag in sales price increase realisation in combination with rising raw material and logistics costs could exacerbate the margin squeeze even further in that region.

Ongoing worldwide logistical challenges of container shortages, port congestion and availability of vessel capacity pose a risk to export volumes from all regions in the third quarter.

Capital expenditure in FY2021 is estimated to be US$400 million and the Saiccor Mill expansion project is expected to commence production in the fourth quarter. Liquidity headroom within the group is good. The successful reinstatement of our leverage covenants as described earlier provides a comfortable level of headroom when covenant measurement commences again from December 2021.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from Lee & Man Paper to supply two semi-chemical fiberlines for its mills in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, and Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, China.

Start-up of both lines is scheduled for the end of 2022.

The new fiberlines will have a capacity of 1,000 admt/d each and process eucalyptus wood chips to produce semi-chemical pulp, an intermediate grade between kraft pulp and mechanical pulp. Semi-chemical pulp provides excellent fiber properties for corrugated boards, such as fluting paper and other grades produced at the mill.

The highly efficient green liquor pulping technology from ANDRITZ will enable production of excellent pulp quality, high fiber yield as well as optimum interaction with the kraft pulp mill. 

  ANDRITZ blow line refiner 1CP © ANDRITZ ANDRITZ blow line refiner 1CP © ANDRITZ

The scope of supply comprises the main equipment for both fiberlines, featuring the following technological highlights:

  • ANDRITZ continuous digester specifically designed for the semi-chemical pulping process 
  • Medium-consistency blow line refiners, type 1CP, to defibrate and homogenize cooked chips at low specific energy
  • 5-stage counter-current washing with highly efficient vacuum VT washers and ANDRITZ screw presses to achieve minimum loss in washing and lowest carry-over of detrimental substances

ANDRITZ will also provide the basic engineering as well as supervision of mechanical installation work, commissioning, and start-up.

Mr. Edmond Lee, CEO Lee & Man Paper, says: “We decided to focus on our own fresh fiber production as an alternative to imported kraft and recycled fiber pulp as raw materials. With the new fiberlines, we will become more self-sufficient in pulp imports and less vulnerable to market fluctuations. ANDRITZ’s operating experience with similar installations in recent years, especially the first and only installation of this kind in China, was the main driver for our decision.”

Established in 1994, Lee & Man Paper manufactures linerboards of various grades and corrugating medium of different specifications used for several industrial packaging purposes. The group owns five paper mills and one pulp factory in China as well as several production bases in Vietnam, Malaysia and other countries.

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.

James Cropper, one of the world’s most innovative papermakers, has appointed Damian Cook as technical director for its paper division. 

Damian joins the Kendal-based business, which creates some of the world’s most advanced paper products, to lead its technical department. The team is responsible for research and development, field technical operations and product quality.  

Damian CookDamian CookDamian will also oversee the on-site colour lab, which has the capability to match and recreate any colour from any source. The lab holds around 2,000 live shade recipes and an electronic archive of some 200,000 colours. 

With a strong focus on innovation and new product development, Damian brings a wealth of theoretical and practical experience. Having spent the past few years running his own consultancy business, Damian has previously held technical positions at a variety of organisations such as Elmwood Sensors Ltd, Honeywell International Inc, Draeger Safety UK Ltd and Parker-Hannifin Corporation. 

As the business looks to build on its innovations such as the PaperGardTM anti-viral product protection for paper and its Rydal Collection, which includes 100% upcycled paper  options for premium packaging, Damian will be crucial in supporting value growth through new product development. 

James Cropper, managing director, Steve Adams, says: “Damian’s enthusiasm and passion for innovation and new product development is palpable. That, coupled with his experience in project management, research and development and marketing, makes him an ideal leader to help us accelerate our growth and deliver our business strategy effectively.” 

Damian will be based at the Cumbrian papermill in the English Lake District. Damian says: “Joining James Cropper, a world-class papermaker with an exceptional reputation for innovation, is an extremely exciting career move.   

“James Cropper has an incredible ability to pioneer and innovate, having created a series of unique paper and packaging solutions, including CupCycling™, the world’s first recycling process dedicated to upcycling coffee cups. It’s without doubt that this business is one to be excited by and proud to be part of.” 

Damian is also a volunteer business mentor for The Prince’s Trust as well as an accredited associate member of the Association of Coaching.  

About James Cropper   

James Cropper is a prestige paper innovator based in the English Lake District, supplying distinct, custom-made paper products to many of the world’s leading luxury brands, art galleries and designers.   

With over  175 years of high-quality paper production, the business has been carefully stewarded and nurtured by six generations of the Cropper family and is renowned globally for individual expertise in colour and fibre innovation.       

CupCyclingTM  

CupCycling is a technology innovated by James Cropper that extracts the polythene lining of disposable coffee cups, enabling them to be recycled and transformed into high-quality paper, packaging and stationery products. By working with retailers such as McDonald’s and Costa, James Cropper has implemented the infrastructure needed to collect single-use waste products and transform them into beautiful papers and packaging for the likes of Selfridges and Lush. Circular design is at the core of CupCycling. To date, James Cropper has recycled over 150 million coffee cups and has capacity to upcycle 500 million cups per year.   

Read more about the CupCyclingTM story here.  

In 2020, Sofidel added 120,000 tons a year to its production capacity in the USA with two Toscotec AHEAD 2.0L paper machines in 5,500 millimetre format with an operating speed of 2,000 metres a minute. Toscotec has delivered a turnkey product for the tissue-making area of Sofidel America’s integrated paper mill in Inola, Oklahoma. Since the launch of two new lines, Sofidel has been manufacturing premium quality tissue paper, in compliance with its rigorous quality standards, and has maintained a high level of operating efficiency, fully benefiting from the energy and environmental efficiency of Toscotec’s AHEAD lines, which feature the TT SYD Steel Yankee Dryer and high energy recovery TT Hoods. In this interview, Simone Capuano, the Executive VP, Operations & Supply Chain, of Sofidel America Corp. discloses the strategy underpinning this investment and tells us what Sofidel has achieved so far at its Inola production base.

Sofidel America’s new integrated production base in Inola: what were the reasons for this expansion and for choosing Toscotec’s technology?

The construction of an integrated plant in Inola (Oklahoma) is an important part of the growth strategy that Sofidel has implemented in the USA since its arrival in the country in 2012. After Circleville (Ohio), this is the second greenfield investment of our Group in the USA, aimed at increasing our production capacity and our geographical coverage, which means having plants close to our customers - in this case, specifically, we are in the southern region - in order to improve our service and contain logistical costs. In this context, Toscotec was the right choice, because its technology is efficient both from the energy and environmental points of view, and because of the experience and flexibility they have gained in our sector.

2021 05 06 083454

Toscotec was your turnkey supplier for paper mill production on the Inola project. Was it helpful for you to have a single company as your reference point for this part of the supply?

Building a new paper mill from scratch is never an easy task, both for technical and organizational reasons. In Oklahoma, like everywhere else in the USA, we have been able to count on excellent collaboration from local institutions and partners. We certainly found it very helpful to have a single supplier as our contact for the paper mill production part, especially since part of the project was carried out in the first and most complicated stage of the COVID-19 emergency, with all the problems that implied.

Are you satisfied with Toscotec’s management at this time of global emergency?

Even though we had to face unpredictable and complicated situations, Toscotec's flexibility, contribution and spirit of collaboration have never been lacking. We appreciated their dedication and problem-solving skills.

Once Toscotec’s machines came on line, did you see an increase in the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) compared to processing reels from other production sites, as you were doing before? Has converting efficiency improved? If yes, why?

Having an integrated plant has already improved production efficiency. Furthermore, the AHEAD 2.0L machines used on our lines represent a tried and tested technology that did not require any fine-tuning. As we expected, they were immediately found to be in line with the needs of our customers. The fact that we could count on reels with a larger diameter and constant quality has definitely allowed us to increase the efficiency of our converting lines.

What grades are you currently manufacturing on PM1 and PM2? What is your assessment of product quality?

The quality standard is high and meets our customers’ requirements and, at the same time, it allows us to achieve excellent performances at the plant in terms of energy efficiency and optimization of raw material use. This is in line with Sofidel's commitment to reconcile the market and consumption needs with those of sustainability. On the two machines, we are producing various grades both for toilet tissues, with particular attention to Super Soft papers, and kitchen towels.

Are you satisfied with the specific consumption of chemical products per ton of paper produced that is being recorded by the two machines?

Yes, we are also recording significant improvements in this area, although the optimizing of the entire system must continue.

Overall, how would you describe the cooperation with Toscotec?

A positive cooperation built on hard work and mutual commitment to continuous improvement.

Valmet and ARAUCO have signed an agreement to jointly develop the Arauco Mill Line 3 in Chile to become the world’s most autonomous pulp mill. Valmet will supply its Industrial Internet Solutions (VII Solutions) comprised of Mill Wide Optimization applications, advanced prediction and monitoring applications as well as expert services. The target is to improve the overall efficiency and profitability of the entire mill by coordinating and optimizing across process islands. The expert support is given both onsite and remotely through Valmet Performance Centers in South America and the Nordics.

The Arauco Mill Line 3, located in the Bio Bío Region in Chile, is currently being built as the MAPA project, a major investment to expand ARAUCO’s current pulp production capacity. As announced in 2018, Valmet delivers pulp drying and baling, recovery boiler and biomass boiler to the MAPA project.

“Since we started the MAPA project in 2011, we have wanted that the project represents a real contribution to the territory and is also in line with the environmental standards required today. From the beginning, this project comprised a broad investment program in technology, energy efficiency and big data, among others, which will make the processes much more efficient. Our partnership with Valmet represents another step in the sustainable development of the project. We believe that it is essential to have a world-class ally that guarantees the standards and the best technology available in the market today,” says Charles Kimber, Senior Vice President, People and Sustainability, ARAUCO.

“This is a true partnership, where we have jointly tailored the solution to best suit the ARAUCO’s needs. With this partnership it will be possible to maximize the production of the mill and move towards an autonomous mill. In this project we utilize our solid process and automation know-how and combine our strong local presence in South America with our global resources. Our common target with ARAUCO in the first phase is to secure successful commissioning of the MAPA project, fast start-up, ramp-up curve and improve the overall efficiency and profitability of the mill for the years to come,” says Félix Hernaiz, General Manager, Andes Region, Valmet.  

Valmet will supply Industrial Internet solutions for Arauco Mill Line 3 onsite and remotely from Valmet Performance Centers in South America and the Nordics. Valmet will supply Industrial Internet solutions for Arauco Mill Line 3 onsite and remotely from Valmet Performance Centers in South America and the Nordics.

Technical information about the agreement

The contract includes several Valmet Mill Wide Optimization applications which provide a completely new way to improve mill profitability. The Mill Wide Optimization applications use process flowsheet optimization to automate mill level decisions and coordinate process area actions by generating production and quality plans for each mill area to help increase production and reduce costs. Additionally, Valmet will deliver optimization, advanced monitoring and prediction applications for selected process areas focusing on the pulp dryer and power and recovery boilers. Optimizations are based on Valmet’s kappa, brightness and alkali analyzer measurements.

Valmet also delivers expert support onsite and remotely from Valmet Performance Centers in South America and the Nordics. A Valmet expert will be daily at the mill and Valmet specialists will visit the mill several times a year to evaluate the performance. A comprehensive Data Discovery service will be implemented during the five-year contract period.   

“This agreement combines Mill Wide Optimization, Advanced Process Controls (APC), analytical applications and remote services from Valmet Performance Center. We are using Valmet Customer Portal as our digital collaboration space to provide easy access to the advanced applications and the Valmet expert team,” says Jari Almi, Vice President, Industrial Internet, Valmet.

Valmet Industrial Internet solutions in a nutshell

In early 2020, Valmet introduced a full range of new, data-driven Industrial Internet solutions to pulp, board, paper, tissue and energy producers. The Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) solutions combine advanced monitoring and prediction applications, Advanced Process Controls (APC), dynamic process simulators and remote services from Valmet Performance Centers into comprehensive solutions that provide tangible benefits to customers.

The purpose is to efficiently utilize data and Valmet’s expertise to reduce energy consumption, improve chemical and environmental efficiency, optimize pulp and paper quality, increase process reliability, maximize production and enable efficient management of the customer’s equipment fleet.

About the customer ARAUCO

ARAUCO is a global forest product company. The company operates in the forestry, pulp, lumber, plywood, composite panels, millwork, and renewable energy businesses. The company has a revenue of about USD 5 billion. The company operates altogether 42 sawmills, panel mills and pulp mills in North America, South America, Europe and South Africa.

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 2020 were approximately EUR 3.7 billion. Our 14,000 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.   

Read more www.valmet.com

For further information, please contact:
Samuli Lehtonen, Director, Performance Optimization, Valmet, tel. +358 50 583 6281
Marcus Oliveira, Regional Sales Manager, South America, Valmet, tel. +55 15 997814768