6 INDUSTRY NEWS
Resolute’s $270m tissue investment
P
apermaking equipment is already being ordered for the state-of-the-art tissue
line that will be constructed by Resolute Forest Products at its Calhoun mill in Tennessee. The decision to invest $270 million was announced at the beginning of June, meaning that Resolute will be entering the tissue business with the intention of manufacturing at-home, premium private label tissue paper, including bath and towel early in 2017. “This is an important step
forward for Resolute as we execute on our growth strategy in a way that maximizes our ability to capture synergies and deliver superior value,” said Richard Garneau, Resolute’s chief executive officer. “We have been studying this
option to diversify into the tissue business for quite some time, and we will continue to look at opportunities to expand our presence in this growing market. Once fully operational, Resolute will produce high- quality products at one of the most competitive and efficient tissue operations. We will work to be a preferred supplier of major private label retailers by being the best at meeting their needs in customer service and the quality promise of their store brands.” Representing the largest
investment by Resolute since 2010, the new facilities will have capacity for 60,000 metric tons of tissue products per year, focused on the growing private label market. Resolute said construction is expected to begin shortly, with ramp-up expected
Lower volumes hit Sonoco’s results
Sales in the paper and industrial converted products segment at US-based Sonoco slipped 8 per cent in the first six months of the year to US$871 million, although sales held up in the second quarter. This was compensated for by an improvement in consumer packaging sales of 12 per cent to $1.05 billion. Total sales for the six months were $2.46bn. The paper and industrial converted products segment
July/August 2015
includes paperboard tubes and cores; fibre-based construction tubes and recycled paperboard, linerboard, corrugating medium, recovered paper and material recycling services. Sonoco chief executive Jack Sanders commented: “Entering the second half of 2015, we remain optimistic that global economies will continue to improve. Unfortunately, we face some short-term obstacles
which are requiring us to lower our guidance for the rest of 2015. “Our paper operations are
facing challenging markets, and rising raw material prices in North America and Europe could impact our tubes and cores business. To offset some of these headwinds, we are making significant progress in streamlining our corporate and business unit structures to reduce costs.”
to start in the first quarter of 2017. The tissue machine will use excess slush pulp over and above the additional dried market pulp capacity associated with the previously announced continuous pulp digester project. The investment will create 105
new jobs at the mill, in addition to the 50 positions associated with the digester. Resolute’s decision is in
response to growing demand for tissue products, with the at-home segment accounting for the majority of all tissue sold in North America. Over the next ten years, most of the sector’s growth is expected to be in the premium quality tier, Resolute’s target market. Resolute has ordered a new tissue machine from Valmet for the mill: see Projects & Contracts, page 28.
Pulp Paper & Logistics
News in brief
The manufacture of carbon fibre-reinforced composite components from kraft lignin is the objective of an EU research project that has been awarded to Södra, together with Innventia and seven other organisations. Södra says the initiative is of great significance for bio-based products in a future bioeconomy, because the carbon-fibre components for use in the automotive industry could be produced at a lower price than is currently the case.
The environmental impact assessment programme for Finnpulp Oy’s planned 1.2 million-tonne pulp mill at Sorsasalo in Finland has been submitted to the North Savo Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment. In addition to the construction and operation of the pulp mill, which will use an estimated 6.7 million cubic metres of wood raw material per year, the assessment procedure will cover the essential auxiliary activities required by the mill such as road and rail connections and the power transmission network.
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has concluded a comparative study on the environmental performance of different packaging solutions. The study compares the lifecycles of plastic products versus corresponding paper products from BillerudKorsnäs. The results show that paper has considerably more favourable environmental qualities than plastics, such as 50-70 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions.
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