Norske Skog Nearing Start-up of Converted PM3 at Bruck Mill in Austria
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Norske Skog said that its Bruck mill in Austria is getting close to starting-up paper machine 3 (PM3), which is being converted from the production of newsprint to recycled containerboard. The machine conversion is an EUR 90 - 100 million investment.
PM3, which had the capacity to produce 125,000 metric tons per year of newsprint, produced its last reel of "NOR News" on July 10, 2022.
Upon the completion of the conversion project, PM3 will have the capacity to produce 210,000 metric tons per year of recycled containerboard.
In a statement on Norske Skog's website, the company said, "We are looking forward to the start of the paper machine in March, marking the end of the conversion project in Bruck.
"But even before the first fiber touches the screen, containerboard production has started - in our lab! The first OCC bales were analyzed, and small quantities were dissolved in laboratory pulpers to produce the first containerboard sheets. These were subject to several measurements, evaluating their SCT and CMT, for example.
"The various installations in the newly built OCC plant continue to be tested, checked, and taken over by the operating crews in cooperation with the companies involved in the project to prepare for the first production.
"Meanwhile operators throughout the mill are instructed to work with new installations. Some installations are still in the final construction phase, the last cables are being pulled as we speak, the last safety-related changes are being made. Operating systems have been adapted to the new product requirements and the various interfaces with the new units are in the test phase. The first labels were printed and the transport routes to the warehouse were tested."
The Bruck mill also operates PM4, which has the capacity to produce 265,000 tonnes per year of light-weight coated (LWC) paper.
