Weekly Spotlight
Grupo Gondi, WestRock to Combine Operations in Mexico

Over the Wire

TAPPI

Member
Cristini
Grupo Gondi will have 13 plants, including three WestRock corrugated facilities in Mexicali, Monterrey, and Queretaro. WestRock also will make a cash contribution in exchange for a 25% equity participation in Grupo Gondi.
 
PPI 2016 Awards Open for Nominations, Entries
Awards for the pulp and paper industry has 10 categories this year, including Mill Manager of the Year, The Bio-Strategy Award, Environmental Leadership, Innovation in Water Management, and Innovation in Tissue.
 
Nordic Pulp Firms Turning Trees into Fashion
There's been no Nordic production of viscose, the main textile fiber from timber, for nearly a decade, partly on environmental grounds. A 2011 spike in cotton prices began changing that. The industry would like to see textile fiber factories set up that will meet environmental rules and appeal to local firms such as IKEA.
 
IP Provides $1 Million in Flood Disaster Relief
International Paper's Industrial Packaging unit also has donated more than 50,000 boxes to food banks and church groups in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Texas, assisting the hardest-hit flood victims.
 
Mapping Paper Technology History in Medieval England
It may seem strange to describe ancient papermaking as technology, but its arrival in the U.K. in about 1300 was a pivotal moment in western cultural history. The story is now being pieced together for the first time in a new project that promises to reveal why some innovations (paper) are a timeless success while others fail.
 
2016 Tissue Forum Explores Latest Developments in Alternative Fiber
In-depth look at alternative fibers in tissue making in Session TF2 of this year’s Tissue360 Forum at PaperCon, May 16-18, 2016, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, actually begins in session TF1, which is the keynote session for this well-attended event, now in its fourth year.
 
College Receives $200K Grant to Create Program Combating Counterfeit Packaging
The National Science Foundation will work with the North Carolina, USA, community college to develop a new certificate program focused on anti-counterfeit printing and paper packaging technology.
 
Safety Hats - Direct Digital Manufacturing Services
Market Roundup
U.S. P&W Paper Shipments Edge up
Shipments increased 1% in February 2016 compared with February 2015. Total P&W paper inventory was essentially unchanged from January 2016 levels.
 
N.A. P&W Paper Demand Rises
P&W paper demand was up 1.4% y/y in February 2016, but was down 2% in the first two months of this year.
 
U.S. Demand for Food Containers to Exceed $31 Billion by 2020
Demand for food containers is projected to increase 2.8% yearly. Trends include a general shift from rigid packaging formats to flexible containers such as paperboard. While rigid plastic, foam, and molded pulp containers offer different environmental benefits, molded pulp is often considered the greener option of the three.
 
Italy’s BSK, BHK Pulp Imports Rise in 2015
Country's BSK pulp imports were up 2.6% y/y in 2015, with more from Sweden. The country’s BHK pulp imports were up 4.7% y/y, including a big rise from Uruguay.
 
Paper Packaging Market Projected Growth at CAGR 7.59% in Latest Study
Yesterday (March 30) the most recent to-date study that has been published for the growth of the paper and paperboard packaging market from 2016-2022 was released, anticipating the market to reach $210.4 billion by 2022.
 
Institute of Paper Science and Technology at Georgia Tech
Pulp & Paper
Ilim Group to Invest $2 billion-Plus in Russian P&P Mills
New Business Plan to 2020 includes investments of more than $2 billion into existing production facilities and other operations in Russia. Investments will focus on increasing the Group’s production capacity by 500,000-plus metric tpy.
 
Kemira Expands Sodium Chlorate Capacity at Joutseno Plant
Company plans to build a new sodium chlorate production line and cell-room based on its in-house technology that will significantly increase the Joutseno site's current sodium chlorate capacity. Construction is expected to start this June.
 
Rottneros Orders Andritz Upgrade for CTMP Pulp Drying Line
Andritz has received an order from Rottneros Bruk AB to upgrade the CTMP pulp drying line at its Rottneros mill in Sweden. The flash dryer’s capacity will be increased by more than 50% while at the same time specific heat consumption will be reduced. Startup is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.
 
SCA Tissue Machine Catches Fire at Menasha Mill
Fire resulted in one injury from smoke inhalation. and caused an estimated $5.000 in damages to the mill's tissue machine.
 
Oji Holdings Announcement Regarding Shut Down of Kasugai Mill
Throughout the Japanese mill's history, Oji explained they have rebuilt the manufacturing system several times to optimally meet the changes in demand for printing and communications paper. However, the company now foresees demand continuing to decrease, leading to the decision to make this closure
 
Universal Electric Corp.
Containerboard/Packaging
DS Smith Acquires TRM Packaging
TRM is a producer of specialist corrugated packaging and retail ready packaging, located in the North West of England. It employs some 270 people.
 
Graphic Packaging to Acquire Metro Packaging & Imaging
Company has agreed to acquire converting assets of Wayne, N.J.-based printed folding carton producer primarily servicing the food and away-from-home end markets through strong sheet-fed and web press capabilities.
 
KapStone Hopes For Better Year in Charleston
A tricky upgrade in Charleston, S.C., USA, along with extreme weather bringing unexpected amounts of rain created challenges for KapStone at the company's kraft paper facility, as well as with rising raw material prices. For nearly eight years the Cooper River site was hailed as a "home run" before a difficult end of 2015.
 
Nippon Paper Concludes License Agreement for New Products with Elopak
Products introduced to the Japanese market are Pure-Pak® Curve and Pure-Pak Sense. Products feature sophisticated Scandinavian design shapes and new functions. They have high value-added products in dairy drinks, soft drinks, and functional drinks in Europe, and closures can be attached to them.
 
Russian’s South Wine to Use SIG Combibloc Asceptic Carton Packs
Four of South Wine's own home-grown semi-dry wines are now offered in the combibloc Slimline 1,000 ml carton pack. The company's wines have previously been available in glass bottles only.
 
Smurfit Kappa Colombia Contracts PMP for PM 1 Press Part Rebuild
PMP will install state-of-the-art new technology on PM 1, ensuring energy savings solutions following global trends. Additionally, the project is expected to significantly improve paper quality.
 
VPK Packaging Expands Romanian Corrugated Plant
Facility near the town of Salonta, which produces corrugated board as well as tubes, was recently expanded by 4,600 square meters. The new section will provide room for the production of tubes.
 
Walki to Increase Product Consistency, Efficiency of Extruders at Pietarsaari Plant
Upgrade includes new drives and a control system for the PRS106 line as well as renewal of some of the unwinding stations on PRS109 and PRS106.
 
Legislative
U.S. Paper Producers Urge Congress to Act on TPP
The Trans-Pacific Partnership opens markets for forest products and breaks ground in lowering non-tariff barriers and other regulatory impediments to trade. The elimination of most tariffs on goods traded regionally and reduction of non-tariff barriers is expected to increase economic activity and boost demand for paper products.
 
New Products
Generation Systems Unites Lubrication and Asset Management with LUBE-IT 5.3
LUBE-IT 5.3 delivers highly anticipated integration capabilities with enterprise asset management (EAM/CMMS) systems, and increases the reliability and effectiveness of industrial equipment lubrication programs.
 
Voith Introduces MultiSeal Plus Sealing Technology for PM Dryer Sections
New MultiSeal Plus sealing technology improves processes in the dryer section of paper machines. Thanks to a shorter high-vacuum zone, the fabric deflection is significantly reduced and fabric wear is decreased. Also, adjustable SkySeal Plus sealing strips consistently optimize fabric runs and extend maintenance intervals.
 
Vortec Enclosure Coolers Keep Sensitive Electronics Cool as Summer Temps Climb
Enclosure coolers keep electrical and electronic enclosures cool, clean, and dry, and are a low-cost alternative to expensive high-maintenance air conditioners. A small mounting footprint allows use in confined spaces, and require 1/10th the space of comparable air conditioner units.
 
Arctic Paper Launches Fourth, High White Shade of Munken Design Range
Munken Kristall addresses the trend towards an increased demand for fine paper that exhibits high whiteness and brightness – a combination that is already embraced by Munken Polar – and takes the whitening possibilities one step further.
 
Toscotec S.p.A
Sustainability
Scion and VTT Technical Research Form Bioeconomy Agreement
The agreement between the New Zealand forest group and the research center in Finland will focus on co-invention and commercialization of technologies in New Zealand that will contribute to increased use of climate friendly, lightweight, high performance materials made from forest biomass.
 
Restalk Converts Cannabis Waste into Paper
The Nevada, USA, company aims to reduce the cannabis industry’s carbon footprint by offering legal cultivators an "eco-friendly recycling solution" by turning what would otherwise be waste from medicinal and recreational marijuana producers into a new form of paper and packaging material.
 
Toolkit Offers Resources for Foodservice Packaging Recovery
The toolkit, partially developed by FPI’s Paper Recovery Alliance, is separated into sections based on audiences. For communities, material recovery facilities, and end markets, the toolkit maps out potential end markets for recycled material and shares case studies of successful foodservice packaging recovery.
 
Stora Enso Wins Bio-Based Brand of the Year Award
Traditionally a pulp and paper company, Stora Enso has increasingly focused on producing second-generation biochemicals and biomaterials through its sustainable extraction processes in order to provide novel products for new markets. The company has diversified into a renewable materials company that is now gaining recognition.
 
IP Joins SGP Community as Platinum Patron
As a platinum level Patron, International Paper supports the goals of the SGP program at the highest level. IP was said to recognize that sustaining natural resources is crucial to the future of our planet.
 
Paper Only: Company Refuses to Recycle Any Other Product
In 2013, China stopped taking shipments of plastic grades 3, 6, and 7. Before that, the company said they really never made much money on plastic and tin compared with paper, anyhow. It's a victory for the sustainability argument of paper products over others, an argument increasingly important in the 21st century economy.
 
Energy
Oji Green Resources, Mitsubishi Paper Form Biomass Power JV
Two companies will install a biomass power plant at Mitsubishi Paper’s Hachinohe mill in Japan. Operation and maintenance of the operation will be handled by Mitsubishi Paper, and biomass fuel procurement will be mainly provided by Oji Green Resources.
 
People
Eibl-Török Named Chairman, Managing Director of VIPAP VIDEM KRŠKO
Stefan Eibl-Török has many years of experience as a global sales and marketing executive in the production industry, and for the past 13 years has been responsible for marketing and sales at Laakirchen Papier AG, Austria.
 
TAPPI News
Exceptional Maintenance is All in the Planning
Learn proven best practices in cost-effective management.
 
Optimize Sheet Structure and Run a Fourdrinier While Learning
Dig deeper into your training in paper properties and formation.
 
TAPPI Lost and Found
Discover where articles and other information is located on the site and increase your understanding of our navigation with TAPPI Lost and Found.
 
PaperCon Papermaking: Who is Going to Do?
PaperCon sessions, roundtables, technical papers, and success stories will challenge you to think, act, and do!
 
Join Us at the 73rd Annual PPSA Safety & Health Conference
The 2016 PPSA conference features expert speakers from within the safety community, as well as exhibits from vendors showcasing the latest innovations in personal and site safety.
 
TAPPI Press Book of the Month: Process Control Fundamentals for the P&P Industry
As requested by our members, Process Control Fundamentals for the Pulp and Paper Industry is back in stock.
 
TAPPI Young Professionals Division Applauds Top 20 Under 30
TAPPI’s Young Professionals Division recently selected the winners of its second annual YP Top 20 Under 30 Contest. The contest recognizes individuals under the age of 30 who are emerging leaders in the global pulp, paper, packaging, tissue, and related industries.
 
TAPPI Industry Career Center: GL&V Seeks Engineering Project Manager
GL&V USA, Inc. is currently seeking an Engineering Project Manager in the Lenox, Mass., USA area.