PMP (Paper Machinery Producer) – a global provider of tissue, paper and board technologies for the Pulp & Paper industry as well as solutions for other heavy industries, today announced that it has appointed Miroslaw Pietraszek as President effective April 28th, 2017. Zbigniew Manugiewicz, PMP’s co-founder and former President, will continue to serve as a member of PMP’s supervisory board of directors.

Miroslaw Pietraszek has spent over 45 years in the Pulp & Paper industry. Miroslaw Pietraszek has been connected with the company for his entire business career and most recently held a position of Vice President Operations. Miroslaw has demonstrated his range of management, experience and dedication that will be essential to PMP’s success in the years ahead.

PMP’s outgoing President, Zbigniew Manugiewicz will remain actively involved in the company as a member of the supervisory board. He will continue to assist the company with long-term strategy development. Zbigniew Manugiewicz joined the company in 1979 and served as PMP’s President for last 17 years. Under his leadership, PMP has become a recognized player in the Pulp & Paper industry worldwide. Today, PMP’s products and solutions can be found in 34 countries on 6 continents, including key references in a diverse array of pulp and paper corporations.

“Miroslaw is the right person to lead PMP to the next stage of growth.” said Manugiewicz.” I truly expect to continue to see great things from my successor, because I have the highest confidence in him and the rest of PMP’s management team.”

“I am honored to take the company’s leadership. My personal goal is to continue PMP’s strategy to be perceived as a technological integrator, strong and agile, and to increase PMP’s focus on being a customer driven supplier of investment goods that create opportunities and add value.” said Pietraszek.

Aaron Braaten, PMP Group Chairman of the Board said: “PMP has always been a pro-active, agile and flexible corporation. I am confident in Miroslaw’s vision for PMP and I am sure this change will empower our growth and create new opportunities for our customers.“

AEGLE Zero, a new uncoated folding boxboard with an uncoated reverse, has been added to the range of packaging materials offered by Kotkamills from their BM2 cartonboard machine in Kotka, Finland.

AEGLE Zero is a special uncoated packaging grade, suitable for food and non-food end-uses, where a natural look is as important as excellent printability and conversion properties. The grade is made from the same strong, virgin Nordic fibre that AEGLE Pro and AEGLE White are made from and offers the same opportunity for creative design. Printability, CD stiffness and value are all offered by this special new grade.

“The tactile and natural looking surface of AEGLE Zero provides the opportunity for creative packaging design where values of pure, organic quality are implicit in the final product choice. It offers a real opportunity for packaging differentiation and is suitable for a range of printing processes and finishing techniques, like hot and cold foiling. A natural choice from Kotkamills AEGLE range of folding boxboards,” says David Ingham, Sales Director Consumer Boards at Kotkamills.

AEGLE Zero is produced in the range of 305 to 615 micron and is available to order now.

Kotkamills Group in brief

Kotkamills is a responsible partner that delivers renewable products and performance to its customers' processes via product innovations created from wood, a renewable raw material. The key brands of the company include Absorbex® and Imprex®, both innovative laminating paper products for the laminate, plywood and construction industries. Moreover, Kotkamills offers ecological, technically sound and visually attractive wood products for demanding joinery and construction. In summer 2016, Kotkamills started up a new board machine producing AEGLE(TM) Folding Boxboard and ISLA(TM) Food Service Boards, including the capability to add barriers on-machine. All Consumer Boards material solutions are fully recyclable and repulpable.

Kotkamills has two production sites in Finland, located in Kotka and Imatra. The majority shareholder of Kotkamills is MB Funds, a Finnish private equity firm.

www.kotkamills.com

From May 27th to June 25th, in the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza (Italy), Burgo Group opens to the public the precious artistic heritage that has gathered in twenty years of illustrated calendars. Visitors could appreciate the works of some of the most famous international illustrators, involved in the execution of the famous calendar since 1997:

Jean Michel Folon, Emanuele Luzzati, Milton Glaser, Lorenzo Mattotti, Altan, Roberto Perini, Paul Davis, Moebius, Giorgio Maria Griffa, José Munoz, Loustal, Tullio Pericoli, Cecco Mariniello, Fabian Negrin, Alessandro Sanna, Luca Caimmi, Shout, Ping Zhu.

Paper as a key vehicle for spreading ideas, this is the message behind the ideal partnership between the Group and the art of Illustration.  This synergy began in 1997 with the unique vision of the man flying with paper wings by Jean Michel Folon, it traveled across different countries and continents and investigated many visual art techniques, and arrived nowadays with the freshness of the watercolors of a young American illustrator, Ping Zhu.

To celebrate such a significant event Burgo made an artbook, Burgo Collection 1997 -2017, curated by Francesco Poroli and printed on Burgo coated paper R4 Next satin. The book will be  featured  on    May 31st, in association with Illustri Festival. Robert Newman, a famous American art director who signed the introductory text, will attend the event which is part of the extensive program of Illustri Festival 2017, the third edition of the two-year festival of illustration; a whole month of meetings, workshops and eight great exhibitions which will animate the most prestigious monuments in the city and will involve more than ninety illustrators.

Burgo Group is one of Europe's leading producers of graphical and specialty papers. The Group is configured as a true 'system', developed around the world of paper: from the production, distribution, recycling of paper and the processing of forestry products, to study, planning, realisation and engineering of paper plants, as well as factoring and energy.

Kemira announces a price increase for its paper sizing products in EMEA. The adjustment will be effective immediately or as customer contracts allow.

The price increase of the ASA sizing chemicals will be approximately 5-10%, depending on the specific formulations and can differ in selected geographies. This adjustment is necessary due to increased raw material costs and currency variations.

Also as announced on January 25^th 2017, Kemira will increase AKD sizing chemical prices by approximately 5-10%. This adjustment is necessary due to significantly increased raw material costs and currency variations.

For more information:

Harri Eronen
VP, Sales &Technical Service, Pulp & Paper, EMEA
Tel. +49 1718 02 8790
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Janne Silonsaari
Director, Marketing & Product Management, Pulp & Paper, EMEA,
Tel. +358 50 4099264
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Kemira is a global chemicals company serving customers in water-intensive industries. We provide expertise, application know-how and chemicals that improve our customers' product quality, process and resource efficiency. Our focus is on pulp & paper, oil & gas, mining and water treatment. In 2016, Kemira had annual revenue of around EUR 2.4 billion and 4,800 employees. Kemira shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd.
www.kemira.com

Based on smart sensing technology, ABB’s pioneering condition monitoring solution is set to convert millions of low voltage (LV) motors into intelligent, connected machines. It is now available in Europe, and will soon be released in the US.

ABB Ability Smart Sensor is a remote condition monitoring solution that enables users to check the status of their LV motors from a smartphone or dedicated web portal. The compact sensor of the size of a smartphone can be attached to motors of many manufacturers to pick up operating and performance data. The data are transmitted to the cloud and processed to produce useful information on motor health and performance. This information is supplied to the user in an easy-to-understand format. The solution enables predictive analytics that can boost uptime while reducing energy consumption.

“We are extremely proud to announce that the ABB Ability Smart Sensor is now entering the European market, and will soon be available in the US. It has been successfully trialed with many of our customers around the world. This solution is truly a quantum leap for millions of LV motors”, said Otto Preiss, Managing Director of ABB's Motors and Generators business unit. “It enables plant operators to do effective maintenance planning for their motors, assess the efficiency of their operation and prevent costly downtime. We are confident that this solution will not only transform maintenance approaches but also create added operational value for our customers.”

“Our pilot testers reported very positive results with the smart sensors”, said Jonas Spoorendonk, Global Product Manager of ABB Ability Smart Sensor. “In a typical example, a sensor at a chemical plant in Germany indicated that a pump motor was running in overload every time it started. The problem turned out to be the incorrect operation of a valve. This was causing high pressure in the system and a great deal of stress on the pump and seals – a situation that the plant’s regular maintenance had no way to detect. In many other cases sensors have provided early warnings of bearing problems, enabling motors to be replaced well before they failed.”

It is estimated that predictive maintenance based on data from the solution can help to reduce downtime by up to 70 percent, extend motor lifetime by as much as 30 percent and cut energy consumption by up to 10 percent. The sensor units can be factory fitted on new motors or retrofitted on installed motors within minutes. They are available for both ABB and non-ABB motors.

The sensors in the first release are CE certified and compatible with safe-area induction motors for direct on-line S1 duty, ABB IEC sizes 160-450 and ABB NEMA sizes 140-449. Quick installation of the sensor unit is made easy as no additional wiring or machining is required. Initial monitoring functionality will cover bearing health, vibration, surface temperature, speed, supply frequency, and number of starts. Later releases will expand the range of functionality, and energy consumption monitoring is expected to be added during Q3 2017. A firmware update will be provided to bring this function to already installed sensor units. The first systems will utilize a smartphone app to transfer data. A gateway unit for automated data uploading will become available later in 2017.

The smart sensor condition monitoring solution is part of ABB Ability, which brings together all of ABB's digital solutions and services, each built from a unique combination of sector knowledge, technology leadership and digital expertise. The smart sensor solution and ABB Ability will be highlighted on ABB’s stand at this year’s Hannover Messe in Hall 11, A35.

About ABB

In 2016, ABB Germany generated sales of EUR 3.28 billion with 10,540 employees. ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing more than a 125-year history of innovation, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization and driving the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 132,000 employees. www.abb.de

Pulp production recorded 3.0% growth in the first quarter of 2017, totaling 4.69 million tons against the 4.55 million tons recorded in the same period of last year. In the paper sector, the surplus continues with exports that reached a volume of 544 thousand tons sold between January and March, a 5.6% increase compared to the same period in 2016 when 515 thousand tons were traded. In the wood panels segment domestic sales rose 2.9%, reaching the 1.6 million cubic meter mark.

Check out the other performance indicators for the planted tree sector in the 35th edition of Cenários Ibá, the monthly bulletin of the Brazilian Tree Industry.

Export volume - In the first quarter of 2017, the volume of pulp exports reached 3.3 million tons, an increase of 5.5% over the same period in 2016, when 3.1 million tons were exported.  The wood panels segment recorded exports of 284,000 cubic meters (+45.6%).

Export revenue - From January to February of 2017 the sector recorded exports of US$ 1.9 billion (-2.6%); pulp reached US$ 1.4 billion (-4.3%), paper registered US$ 464 million (-0.2%), and wood panels US$ 64 million (+25.5%). As a result the balance of trade in the sector registered a positive balance of US$ 1.7 billion during the first three months of the year (-0.9%).

Destination of exports - China continues to be the main destination for the Brazilian pulp sector, with a 44% share. In the first quarter revenues for this country increased by 21.6% (US$ 620 million) compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, Latin American countries continued to be the main markets for paper and wood panels in the period, with exports to this region increasing 17.5% (US$ 295 million) and 25% (US$ 35 million), respectively.

Production - Brazilian pulp production surpassed 4.6 million tons (+3.0%) between January and March of 2017, and paper registered 2.5 million tons (-2.2%).

Domestic sales - In the first quarter of 2017, paper sales on the domestic market reached 1.3 million tons (-3.0%), while the wood panels sector registered sales of 1.6 million m³ (+2.9%).

ABOUT IBÁ

The Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá) is the association responsible for institutionally representing the planted tree production chain, from the fields to the factory, with its main stakeholders. Launched in April 2014, it represents 60 companies and nine state entities for products originating from planted trees (wood panels, laminate floors, pulp, paper, energy forests and biomass) in addition to independent producers of planted trees and institutional investors. Learn more at www.iba.org .

Metsä Board is delighted to announce the startup of its new extrusion coating line at its Husum mill in Sweden. The new state-of the-art coating line has an annual capacity of about 100,000 tonnes and represented an investment of EUR 38 million. At the same site Metsä Board operates a 270,000 tonnes efficient  linerboard machine and Europe’s most modern folding boxboard machine, which started production at the beginning of 2016 with yearly capacity of 400,000 tonnes. 

The new extrusion coating line is now producing first orders and it will serve the global food service market and offer improved availability and competitive products. Metsä Board’s PE coated paperboards respond to the tight requirements of the food service market by providing product safety, purity and protection. The paperboards are made of pure and renewable fresh fibres and are a preferred alternative to plastics for cups, plates and other takeaway packaging as well as for frozen food packaging. The paperboards also offer great value for other consumer goods and food service packaging. Currently PE is the most common barrier against moisture and water for food and food service packaging.

Metsä Board Husum extrusion coating line 1

“In developing the new PE coated grades we have utilised our longstanding board making expertise combined with the latest technology. We have an integrated facility at Husum which is a clear advantage. We are sourcing wood close to the mill and producing pulp, board and extrusion-coated board in the same facility with an excellent location near the harbour. This enables us to minimise transport and improve the efficiency and sustainability of the supply chain which is important to us and our customers,” states CEO Mika Joukio.

Metsä Board is continuing development work on other innovative barrier solutions including the use of bio-based materials.

Metsä Board
www.metsabord.com

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of folding boxboards and white linerboards made from fresh fibres. Its lightweight paperboards are developed as the perfect fit for consumer goods, retail-ready and food service packaging. The pure fresh fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in northern forests.

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, converters and merchants. In 2016, the company’s sales totalled EUR 1.7 billion, and it has approximately 2,500 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

In the shape of standard VN 3260/TN 0790, Voith Paper and Trützschler Nonwovens have developed a new safety standard for wet-laid spunlaced (WLS) Nonwovens machines. The standard will help producers of Nonwovens to ensure safe and reliable operation of their machines. It also provides the basic prerequisite for meeting expectations in respect of production and quality.

• Basis for safe production of Nonwovens
• Combination of proven standards for paper and textile machines
• Standardization process by ISO initiated
  

Voith and Trützschler jointly developed the manufacturing process for wet-laid and hydroentangled Nonwovens. The machines on which the materials are produced consist partly of paper machine components and partly of components from Nonwoven machines. The manufacturing process for wet-laid Nonwovens is similar to that for producing paper: A suspension consisting of water and fibers up to 40 mm long is passed over a wire on which a homogeneous fiber mat forms. The hydroentangling or spunlacing process produces bonded Nonwovens that can be textured if required. Drying and winding of the Nonwovens are done on other machine components.

Voith and Trützschler present new safety standard for WLS facilities (machines for wet-laid spunlaced nonwovens).

The newly developed standard combines various Voith and Trützschler safety standards for paper and textile machines in a new document and thus defines the safety requirements for new hybrid machines.

The safety standard has already been incorporated by the International Standardization Organization (ISO) as the basis for developing an international standard, so as to achieve greater impact at global level.

About Trützschler
With about 3000 employees, Trützschler is one of the world's leading textile machinery manufacturers. Trützschler specializes in machines, installations and accessories for spinning preparation, the nonwovens and man-made fiber industry. The headquarters of the more than 125 year old company is based in Mönchengladbach, Germany. Its main sites are located in Germany, India, China, Brazil, USA and Switzerland.

Trützschler Nonwovens is part of Trützschler Nonwovens & Man-Made Fibers and was created through the merger of the long-established Fleissner, Erko and Bastian companies. The company provides solutions along the entire nonwovens process chain from bale opening, fiber blending, bonding down to finishing and winding, as well as for man-made filament spinning plants.

About Voith Paper
Voith Paper is a group division of Voith and is one of the leading partners and pioneers in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimizing the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-saving products to reduce the use of energy, water and fibers. Furthermore, Voith Paper offers a broad service portfolio for all sections of the paper manufacturing process.

About Voith
For 150 years, Voith’s technologies have been inspiring customers, business partners and employees around the world. Founded in 1867, Voith today has around 19,000 employees, sales of €4.3 billion and locations in more than 60 countries worldwide and is thus one of the largest family-owned companies in Europe. Being a technology leader, Voith sets standards in the markets of energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive.

Xerium Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: XRM), a leading global provider of industrial consumable products and services, today announced that the Company was recently awarded orders for machine clothing and rolls technology for Fibria’s new pulp machine at the Tres Lagoas mill in Brazil. The new machine is scheduled to go online in Q3/2017, adding 1.95 million tons of market pulp to Fibria’s annual production.

“We are delighted to be one of the suppliers for Fibria’s new pulp machine at Horizon 2 Project, in Tres Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil),” said Eduardo Fracasso, President of Xerium Latin America. “We are very excited to participate in the commissioning of this new technology machine which will utilize some of Xerium’s most innovative press felts, conveyors belts and roll covers.”

The growing market pulp segment is a strategic target for Xerium, whereas the Company has developed specific machine clothing and rolls products designed specifically to support the demanding water handling requirements of these newer machine configurations, and deliver higher production output with lower energy consumption.

For this new machine, Xerium will be supplying ProSeam XT seam felts and DryTrans ND conveyor belts. Additionally, the Company will be supplying AquaWell IIS, VersaTec, and Everguard roll cover technology.

“We look forward to partnering closely with the Fibria team to help ensure an optimum start-up with maximum pulp product quality, and the highest overall machine efficiency on the Horizon 2 Project, “ adds Fracasso.

ABOUT FIBRIA

The world leader in eucalyptus pulp production, Fibria strives to meet the growing global demand for forestry products in a sustainable manner. With annual production capacity of 5.3 million tons of pulp, it has industrial units in Aracruz (Espírito Santo), Jacareí (São Paulo) and Três Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul), as well as in Eunápolis (Bahia), where it operates Veracel in a joint operation with Stora Enso. Fibria has 969,000 hectares of forests, with 568,000 hectares of planted forests, 338,000 hectares of environmental preservation and conservation areas and 63,000 hectares destined for other uses. The pulp produced by Fibria is exported to more than 40 countries. In May 2015, Fibria announced the expansion of its Três Lagoas Unit, which will receive a new line with annual pulp production capacity of 1.95 million tons and is slated for startup in the fourth quarter of 2017. Learn more at www.fibria.com.br

ABOUT XERIUM TECHNOLOGIES

Xerium Technologies, Inc. (XRM) is a leading global provider of industrial consumable products and services. Xerium, which operates around the world under a variety of brand names, utilizes a broad portfolio of patented and proprietary technologies to provide customers with tailored solutions and products integral to production, all designed to optimize performance and reduce operational costs. With 28 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries around the world, Xerium has approximately 2,950 employees.

Source: Xerium Technologies, Inc.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has been selected to build a new brown stock washing sideline to produce extremely high-purity pulp for the new board machine at the BillerudKorsnäs’ Gruvön mill in Sweden. Start-up is scheduled for the first quarter of 2019.

The ANDRITZ scope of supply includes a new DD-Washer, which ensures the production of high-purity pulp used for food packaging. The delivery also includes four MC pumps and a pulp Screw Press with ANDRITZ’s unique control system.

ANDRITZ Drum Displacer Washer enables extremely high-end product quality. “Photo: ANDRITZ”.

ANDRITZ has some hundreds of very successful DD-Washer installations around the globe. ANDRITZ DD-Washers are characterized by lowest operational costs and lowest emissions as well as extremely good washing efficiency based on the required number of displacement washing stages in a single unit. Washing capacities are over 6,000 admt/d/unit.

This order is part of BillerudKorsnäs’ investment at the Gruvön mill, which includes the construction of a new board machine and rebuilds in the existing pulp mill. The investment is the largest in the history of the company and one of the largest in Sweden in recent years.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER is a leading global supplier of complete plants, systems, equipment, and comprehensive services for the production and processing of all types of pulp, paper, tissue, and cardboard. The technologies cover the processing of logs, annual fibers, and waste paper; the production of chemical pulp, mechanical pulp, and recycled fibers; the recovery and reuse of chemicals; the preparation of paper machine furnish; the production of paper, tissue, and cardboard; the calendering and coating of paper; as well as the treatment of reject materials and sludge. The service offering includes system and machine modernization, rebuilds, spare and wear parts, on-site and workshop services, optimization of process performance, maintenance and automation solutions, as well as machine relocation and second-hand equipment. Biomass, steam, and recovery boilers, as well as gasification plants for power generation, flue gas cleaning plants, plants for the production of nonwovens, dissolving pulp, and panelboard (MDF), as well as recycling plants are also part of this business area.