Yearly Archives: 2016
Brazil’s Export Volumes of Pulp, Paper and Wood Panels Continued to Climb thru November 2016
(Brazil, Dec. 27, 2016) The Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá) concluded its analysis of its forestry sector with the compilation of data through November. During the first eleven months of 2016, export volume for the three analyzed segments -- pulp, paper, and wood panels -- evolved in comparison with the same period last year and contributed to the positive trade balance in the sector, which has reached US$ 6 billion (+2.3%). Pulp made a positive contribution with US$4.7 billion (-0.1%), Read More...
Improving market fundamentals for HW pulp; a tight market to support price hikes
(02 Dec 2016) PPPC [Pulp & Paper Products Council] stats for hardwood pulp for the month of November show improved market fundamentals. After several months of contraction, November saw a 90% increase in operating rates increased (up from 77%), inventories down 1 day and shipments +5% y/y.
As per the PPPC report, “total shipments were up 4% y/y, with shipments to China up 15% y/y and Europe once again delivering growth of 1% y/y after several months in the red. Read More...
Link: Chinese Firm to Build Pulp and Paper Factory in Ethiopia
(Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, December 27, 2016) A newly-established joint venture Purewood Pulp, Paper and Packaging PLC is said to have invested USD 60 million to set up a manufacturing plant on a 68,000sqm plot located inside the Eastern Industry Zone, the first Chinese built and owned industrial park in Ethiopia.
The new pulp factory will have an installed capacity of manufacturing 10,000 tons of toilet paper, 15,000 tons of Kraft paper and 7,500 tons of cartons per year. The mill Read More...
Paprinsa goes ahead with €13.5 million investment programme
(Spain, 19 Dec 2016) Spanish WLC board manufacturer Papelera del Principado (Paprinsa) will launch the second phase of its investment programme to upgrade the board machine at the Mollerussa mill.
According to the Paprinsa management, the machine has been idled on 17 December and is scheduled to resume production on 9 January. Among other things, Paprinsa will install a new coater. The measures, including the upgrades implemented in August 2016, aim at increasing capacity to 125,000 tpy, improving board quality, Read More...
The Ahlstrom Munksjö merger: Syndication of financing related to merger concluded
(Stockholm, Dec. 27, 2016) As announced on November 7, 2016, the Boards of Directors of Ahlstrom Corporation and Munksjö Oyj have agreed on combining the two companies through a statutory absorption merger. The combination is expected to be completed in the beginning of the second quarter of 2017 subject to, among other things, approval by the shareholders of the two companies.
Munksjö has published a press release announcing that it has on December 23, 2016 concluded the syndication of the Read More...
Global Dissolving Pulp (DP) Market Nov. 2016 review – “DP prices drop in November; Import of DWP to China still down by 5% first ten months of 2016”
Dissolving Pulp (DP) Market Summary:
• We have all been waiting for the drop in dissolving pulp (DP) prices as Viscose Staple Fiber (VSF) prices have fallen by 12-13% the last month, and end of November/beginning of December we saw prices decreased by 7-8% to USD 930-920. We hope the price drop has stopped as VSF prices have stabilized the last few weeks.
• Price for softwood (SW) decreased to USD 970 –1.000.
• Import of dissolving pulp decreased by 5% the first 10 months Read More...
Lenzing invests in new Tencel fiber plant in the USA
(Austria, December 23, 2016) The Lenzing Group aims to increase the share of specialty fibers as a percentage of revenue to 50% by 2020. The Supervisory Board of Lenzing AG approved the investment for a TENCEL® fiber plant in the USA.
Lenzing now plans to construct a state-of-the-art plant with a production capacity of 90,000 tons per year at its site in Mobile, Alabama. The new facility will be the largest Tencel fiber plant in the world, it will set Read More...
Europapier closed acquisition of Paperlinx merchant business
(Vienna, Austria, Dec. 23, 2016) Europapier International AG, a subsidiary of Heinzel Group, has closed the acquisition of the local merchant businesses of PaperlinX Group in Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia as announced in July, 2012. In the course of this transaction, Europapier International AG has taken over all of the shares in Budapest Papir Kft., Bratislavska Papierenska Spolocnost s.r.o., Alpe Papir Trgovina na debelo d.o.o., Adria Papir d.o.o., and Dunav Papir d.o.o., as of November 1st, 2012.
Following Read More...
North American Wood Fiber Prices Have Trended Downward for Most of 2015 and 2016
(Seattle, USA, Dec. 22, 2016) Prices for wood fiber consumed by the pulp industry in North America have fallen over the past year in all regions of the continent with the exception of the US South, reports the North American Wood Fiber Review (NAWFR). The biggest declines have been in the northwestern and northeastern US where prices have fallen between 10-15% from the 3Q/15 to the 3Q/16.
In the US Northwest, where a majority of the fiber furnish is sawmills Read More...
Schumacher Packaging doubles capacity at Greven factory
(Germany, Dec. 22, 2016) Schumacher Packaging Group will next year massively expand its Greven factory, opened only in 2014, thus doubling processing and warehousing capacities. The expansion, in which Schumacher Packaging is investing up to EUR 30 million, will also create 80 new jobs at the Greven factory. The substantial enlargement emphasises the strategic importance of the site for the packaging specialist: from its Greven base, Schumacher Packaging can speedily supply customers in north and west Germany and in Read More...
Ence buys Endesa’s Enemansa, La Loma biomass power plants
(Barcelona, Spain, Dec. 22, 2016) Ence – Energía y Celulosa has concluded an agreement to purchase Endesa’s stake in the renewable energy generation plants with biomass of Enemasa (Ciudad Real) and La Loma (Jaén), in which the company held 68.4% and 64.1%, respectively. The operation allows Ence to increase by 29% the installed power of its power business, which now reaches 143 MW.
Ignacio Colmenares, Ence’s Vice President and CEO, stated that “this operation constitutes a new step in fulfilling Read More...
New report says long-term growth predicted for folding carton market
(USA, Dec. 21, 2016) The Paperboard Packaging Council’s (PPC) recently released Trends: 2016 Industry Outlook and Market Data Report predicts stable, long-term growth for the folding carton market. According to this comprehensive analysis of industry growth trends, carton shipments will increase at an average annual rate of 0.5% through 2019, and the market will climb to $8.9 billion over the same period.
The Trends Report, prepared exclusively for PPC members by RISI, offers forecasts for the future as well as Read More...
ASEAN: Vietnam and Thailand projected to emerge as major scrap paper importers; China focuses on increasing scrap paper recovery
(December 20, 2016) Vietnam and Thailand are set to emerge as leading markets for scrap paper imports, presenters at the RISI Fifth Annual China International Recycled Fiber Conference, held in Zhuhai, China, in early December, said.
Vietnam’s paper and board industry is forecast to see a 34% rise in production between 2015 and 2018, on account of new capacity going online. Additionally, as per the Vietnam Pulp and Paper Association (VPPA), Vietnamese mills are projected to import more than 1.9 Read More...
Focus: Nestlé’s focus on sustainable paper
(Switzerland, December 2016) Nestlé bought 1.58 million tonnes of pulp and paper in 2015, much of it from paper mills, converters and packaging manufacturers in Europe, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the United States. It is used for food packaging, wrapping and transportation, although we also need paper for office stationery and marketing materials.
Well over 35% of the pulp and paper Nestlé uses involves recycled materials. Recycling in the pulp and paper industry is well established but food Read More...
Toscotec to deliver two tissue machines to Hengan Group
(Italy, Dec. 20, 2016) Hengan Group, a leading Chinese manufacturer of tissue and hygiene products, has ordered two Toscotec’s Modulo Plus ES tissue machines, to be installed at its Changji mill in Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
These Modulo-Plus S ES are the first two tissue machines supplied by Toscotec to Hengan Group. They have a production speed of 1,600 m/min and a net sheet width of 2.8 m. They are equipped with TT Headbox SLT full hydraulic single layer headbox, TT Read More...