Over the Wire

New benefits such as speed boosting productivity work alongside newer, larger volume handling facilities which have simultaneously led towards a trend of productivity boosting & consolidating the number of active sites box makers open while often using the money saved in the budget to upgrade "surviving" mills.

 

Total European shipments of graphic papers in September 2018 were down 8.5% vs. September 2017 and are down 5.0% year-to-date.

 

Total boxboard monthly production decreased 3.9% when compared to October 2017 but increased 0.7% from Sept. Total boxboard operating rate was 95.4% for October. Total Solid Bleached Boxboard & Liner production was up 2.7% ytd; Recycled Boxboard production declined 2.5% ytd; and Unbleached Kraft & Gypsum rose 2.3% ytd.

 

In the 3Q/18, average market prices for wood chips and pulplogs were highest in Interior B.C. and U.S. Northwest, while pulpmills in the U.S. South, Quebec, and the Maritime provinces had the lowest wood costs. Wood fiber costs for pulpmills in North America remained generally unchanged from the 2Q/18 to the 3Q/18 but were higher than in the 3Q/17, according to the latest issue of the North American Wood Fiber Review.

 

Containerboard production was up 0.5% compared to Oct. 2017 and up 1.8% ytd. The month-over-month average daily production compared to Sept. 2018 was 1.5% lower. The containerboard operating rate was 96.2%, 1.6% points lower than the same month last year. Production for export decreased 13.3% from Sept. 2018.

 

Total printing-writing paper shipments decreased 4% in Oct. compared to Oct. 2017. Total printing-writing paper inventory levels decreased 2% from September. Imports of printing-writing papers in September increased 4% compared to Sept. 2017 imports, while exports declined 27 percent compared to Sept. 2017.

 

"Our former office in Arcadia, Cali. was too small for our needs," explained CMO of Case Paper Simon Schaffer. "So we created a new, 103,250 sq. ft. converting and distribution center that can more efficiently serve the needs of all our West Coast customers."

 

"2018 has been a great year for us so far," said Bill Edwards, VP of manufacturing for communication papers. "Our increased production is really helping support the increased customer demand we’re seeing for uncoated freesheet paper." After a challenging first quarter, the company had five of the six best months of slush pulp production in their history.

 

Georgia-Pacific recently completed an $84 million investment that's making the Foley mill more energy efficient and is reducing its groundwater usage through the installation of new Black Liquor Evaporators.

 

The branding project is expected to be ready for launch in autumn 2019, but a phase of insight gathering has already begun. The ambition is to present some of the elements of the visual identity in spring 2019.

 

Group will use funds from the Nordea 2 Facility and the Factoring Facility as well as cash on hand to fund a $125 million equity investment in KPSI, with half of such investment having occurred upon the closing of the Financings and the remainder to be funded over the following two years.

 

"Additionally, we recently won a significant bid from a national supercenter retailer as the sole supplier of 100% recycled ultra-premium kitchen towel and bath tissue supporting the sustainable product channel, which will be serviced out of our Barnwell facility using QRT paper. We expect this business to begin shipping in March 2019 and to make a significant contribution to the overall profitability of the company." - Orchids CEO.

 

On Nov., 8, 2018, a solemn ribbon cutting ceremony took place at the new location of PMP Americas in South Beloit, Ill., USA. The facility was dedicated to PMP America’s late co-founder and Chairman of the Board Aaron Braaten.

 

"Unifor has made it a priority to raise and equalize standards in the pulp and paper sector," said Unifor National President Jerry Dias. "I’m pleased to say that both of these contracts achieve the Eastern Canada Pulp and Paper Pattern established by our union in April."

 

Both lines feature a second generation large diameter TT SYD, Toscotec’s shoe press technology TT NextPress and the energy-efficient TT DOES solution. This new configuration will grant additional improvements of the finished product’s quality in terms of softness and basis weight uniformity, and an additional reduction of steam consumption.

 

Acquisition provides TRG a superb manufacturing facility in the northeast corridor while complimenting TRG’s retail headquarters in Marlton, N.J., USA. TRG Mid-Atlantic will be the 14th converting location for TRG and adds an array of equipment including a corrugator, three 7-Color Flexo Die-cutters and multiple state-of-the-art gluers.

 

While the harvest declined, so too did tree thinning and the clearing of brush and diseased trees. The Trump administration said it is reversing that trend with the biggest harvest of trees on federal land in 20 years, selling 3.4 billion board feet on some 3 million acres—still just a third of the typical pre-1990 harvest.

 

American Catalog Mailers Association seeks two key congressional bill provisions in wake of U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of the Quill physical presence standard.

 

Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) announced that it is pleased that the federal government has taken steps to support investments in Canadian forestry and strengthen the Canadian industry's position on the global stage.

 

Company crafted the Performance Label line with an eye toward the specific needs of the premium craft beverage industry. The mission was to optimize the label substrates for printability and ensure a long lifespan throughout the supply chain.

 

A number of Smurfit Kappa’s customers were struggling with the weight and inflexibility of the more traditional wooden, chipboard, and plastic pallet tops that are currently used in supply chains and often dropped causing risk of injury.100% paper-based TOPPSafe™ is significantly lighter, it is easier to handle making it more suitable for manual handling.

 

"The adhesives in our new RX product family provide extremely strong and enduring adhesion without resorting to solvents, which not only reduces the environmental impact of producing the labels, but also makes them a more eco-designed choice for product labeling," explained Jouni Iiskola, Segment Manager, UPM Raflatac about the new product family.

 

To coincide with the 20th anniversary of the BaglessPlus system, Voith presents FloWing, the logical development of the proven technology. Practical experience with BaglessPlus over the last two decades enabled Voith engineers to gain crucial insights for the development of the new generation FloWing

 

Effective with shipments Jan. 1, 2019, Domtar's price for Lightweight Opaque products including Financial, Book Publishing, and Pharmaceutical Printing papers will increase by 4%-6%.

 

The South African Forestry Assurance Scheme (SAFAS), established to develop and manage the national forest certification system of South Africa, joined the PEFC alliance in 2017. It becomes the second national system in Africa to achieve PEFC endorsement, following Gabon.

 

The Tesco partnership, which was formed in 1985, aims to support the multi-national retailer in the continuous improvement of its recycling and waste management initiatives. Since its inception, DS Smith has provided recycling and waste management solutions for Tesco U.K. and its European operations at 3,000 sites across five countries.

 

The aim of the commitment is to continuously improve the diversity of UPM’s own forests in Finland. The company owns 570,000 hectares of forest, and managing these forests sustainably is essential to ensure the supply of wood.

 

"Wood waste and tree bark are available in great quantities throughout Europe but, up to now, have all been ignored as a resource. That makes them an ideal raw material, as they don’t need to be specially cultivated and thus won’t compete with food production," said Prof. Gunther Kolb from Fraunhofer IMM in a press release.

 

Sakari Ahdekivi, currently Deputy CEO and EVO Corporate Development, is appointed Deputy CEO and CFO as of Mar. 1, 2019, in addition to his current role. He continues as a member of the group executive team. Sakari has previously held CFO positions in publicly listed companies Ahlstrom Oyj, YIT Oyj and Huhtamäki Oyj.

 

"I’m convinced that Ivar’s strong commercial profile and broad experience of major investment projects, innovation-driven growth and his solid international background will make a very positive contribution to the development of the entire company and bring valuable expertise to Group management," said Petra Einarsson, president and CEO of BillerudKorsnäs.

 

Niels Petter Wright will replace Lars P. Sperre who has been acting President and CEO since May 2017. Sperre will continue to work for Norske Skog as part of the corporate management team, as SVP of Corporate Strategy. Wright’s previous experience includes almost 17 years in Elopak, of which the last ten years serving as the company’s CEO.

 

Remi Lalonde had been serving as VP, Strategy and Corporate Development, since May 2018. Previously, he was GM of Resolute's pulp and paper mill in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Before taking a leadership role in operations, Lalonde was Treasurer and VP, Investor Relations.

 

Heikki Vappula was 51 years old. He joined UPM in 2006 as SVP of Global Sourcing. During 2010-2013 he acted as the President of Energy & Pulp Business Group. Since 2013 he held his current position. He was also a member of the Board of Finnish Forest Industries Federation. Jussi Pesonen, president and CEO of UPM, will assume temporary responsibility as the Head of UPM Biorefining

 

Connect with Talented Students at the 2019 TAPPI-PIMA Student Summit.

 

Save before Dec. 7 on your Introduction to Pulp & Paper course attendance.

 

Reserve your seat now for the TAPPI Kraft Recovery Course taking place Jan. 7-10. This course is often fills a large conference room space with more than a hundred attendees and a huge panel of experts.

 

Clark Nexen is accepting applications for a Senior Industrial Mechanical Engineer at its Macon, GA, USA location.

 

TAPPI Nano 2019 provides a unique platform to showcase your work to an international audience. Submit your latest technical findings by Dec. 3, 2018.