8 INDUSTRY NEWS
Stora Enso invests to replace fossil-based raw materials
A
lmost €100 million is being invested by Stora Enso at mills in Finland so that it
can grow its use of renewable materials and to increase competitiveness in consumer board and biomaterials. Of this, €52 million will
be invested to increase the dissolving pulp production capacity at Enocell Mill while
€42 million will be invested to enhance the availability of the chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP) at Imatra Mills. Karl-Henrik Sundström,
chief executive of Stora Enso, explained: “We continue to drive our transformation to a renewable materials growth company. While investing in our Finnish mills, we expect the competitiveness of Finland’s
export industry to be ensured and further improved globally.” Enocell Mill, part of Stora Enso’s Biomaterials division, will be converted to focus entirely on production of dissolving pulp, while softwood pulp production will be gradually discontinued. The mill will have an annual total capacity of 430,000 tonnes of dissolving pulp, of which 185,000 tonnes will be
hardwood and 245,000 tonnes softwood. The investment at Imatra Mills, part of the Consumer Board division, includes a new CTMP drying and re-pulping plant as well as extension of the pulp warehouse. This aims to enhance the availability of CTMP and to drive the commercialisation of micro- fibrillated cellulose (MFC).
Smurfit Kappa starts up its new containerboard line in Mexico
A new containerboard machine recently started up at Smurfit Kapa’s Los Reyes Paper Mill, north of Mexico City. The PM6 machine, with a
capacity of 100,000 tons of recycled containerboard a year, represents an investment of US$62 million, will facilitate greater integration within the
group’s converting plants and significantly increase the energy efficiency of the Los Reyes plant. It is one of Smurfit Kappa’s
largest recent investments in Mexico, and is in addition to the $33.2m that has been already invested in the company’s Mexican converting plant modernisation project.
Buyer being sought for Wisconsin paper maker
Appleton Coated LLC, the Wisconsin-based manufacturer of coated, uncoated, and speciality papers, as well as containerboard medium, liner, white top and coated white top, has been sold to Industrial Assets Corporation (IA Corp), a California-based company specialising in the acquisition and subsequent resale or leasing of distressed manufacturing companies. The terms of the sale were not revealed.
November/December 2017
IA Corp is now seeking to sell or lease the facilities and equipment to a single buyer or co-operators. Appleton generates more than US$300 million in annual sales and has recently entered the brown paper and coated board marketplace. Steven Mattes, chief executive of IA Corp, said the site at Combined Locks has more than US$ 1 billion of investment capital put into the infrastructure
and equipment at the site. In a statement IA Corp said
the Appleton workforce is determined to keep the mill in operation with a high level of technical knowledge and work ethic.
The mill on a 55-acres site includes a 50 MW cogeneration system and rail access. The three paper machines are said to have trim widths ideal to serve the corrugator converters with a customer base ready to
enter into production output agreements. “We are pleased that the sale
process has concluded and we have a clear direction,” said Doug Osterberg, chief executive of Appleton Coated LLC. “We are working closely with Industrial Assets and their partners to secure a strategic buyer or co-operators for this mill and to reemploy as many people in Combined Locks as possible, as we have for almost 130 years.”
Pulp Paper & Logistics
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