Domtar Corporation has announced the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of privately-held Attends Healthcare Limited ("Attends Europe"), manufacturer and supplier of adult incontinence care products in Europe, from Rutland Partners for €180 million. The closing of the transaction is expected during the first quarter of 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

"The acquisition of Attends Europe moves us further along the path we started down last summer and it consolidates our ownership of the Attends brand on both sides of the Atlantic. With this acquisition, we are adding another platform for growth with a well-established business that has the critical mass to drive product development and brand growth with our current North American business," said John D. Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer ofDomtar. "Demand for incontinence care products in Europe is strong, and our intent is to double earnings within the next five years."

Attends Europe sells and markets a complete line of branded and private-label adult incontinence care products. The company distributes its products in several channels with its own sales organizations in nine European countries. Attends Europe operates a world-class 374,000 square foot (34,000 square meter) manufacturing facility with eight production lines; a research and development center and a distribution center in Aneby, Sweden; it also operates distribution centers in Scotland and Germany. Attends has 413 employees, estimated annual run rate sales and EBITDA of €140 million and €23 million respectively.

James Steele currently Chief Executive Officer of Attends Healthcare Limited will continue in his functions. The acquired business will be integrated in the Personal Care segment of Domtar's financial information filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Domtar will use cash on hand to pay for the acquisition and intends to redeem most of Attends Europe's outstanding debt upon closing of the transaction.

Please refer to the attached fact sheet for further information.

International technology Group ANDRITZ, through its U.S. subsidiary ANDRITZ Inc., is collaborating with ZeaChem Inc. on the production of cellulosic biofuels and bio-based chemicals by providing the technology for a continuous biomass pre-treatment pilot plant. ZeaChem is a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals.

The partnership between the two organizations is the culmination of several years of cooperative work focused on the production of cellulosic biofuels. The ANDRITZ technology will be installed at ZeaChem’s new 250,000 gallons per year biorefining facility in Boardman, Oregon USA. ZeaChem is headquartered in Lakewood, CO USA.

The ANDRITZ technology will be used to convert various cellulosic feedstocks, including poplar trees and agricultural residues, into low-cost sugars. These cellulosic sugars will be used by ZeaChem to enable the production of sustainable and economical advanced biofuels and bio-based chemicals. Cellulosic ethanol production at the ZeaChem biorefinery will begin this year and the product portfolio of the biorefinery will be expanded for the production of bio-based jet and diesel fuels beginning in 2013.

The pilot plant system includes an ANDRITZ cooking reactor with continuous steam explosion technology. ANDRITZ filter press technology will be used to wash the steam-exploded biomass. These technologies are well-proven in other industrial processes and, through extensive R&D in liquid biofuels, have been modified by ANDRITZ to satisfy the requirements for ZeaChem’s process conditions.

Metso’s unique offering, combining process performance control and product quality management, gains popularity in China where end product quality becomes one key focus area.

Recently, Metso has received several significant automation orders from Chinese small- and mid-size boardmakers, for example from Hangzhou Dongda Paper Co., Ltd and Quzhou Wuzhou Special Paper Co., Ltd. “Our success is based on the fact that Metso is one of the industry’s best solution suppliers with a full portfolio to provide both quality controls and vision systems. This creates a unique benefit for our customers by offering not only quality controls but also web vision in one solution, which is very important for quality management. Nowadays, most of the Chinese mills deem quality to be the life of their companies,” comments Ning Zhu from Metso.

Metso has signed a contract with Hangzhou Dongda Paper Co., Ltd to deliver the automation for its board machine. Metso won this case as a full-scope provider. The delivery includes Metso DNA automation system, Metso IQ quality control system with Metso IQ Dilution Profiler, Metso Process and Quality Vision system for web break monitoring and web inspection, and consistency transmitters. The coated board line is located in the Fuyang area of China. The machine width is 4.5 m and runs at a speed of 700 m/min. The Fuyang area is quite well known in the paper industry for its small- and medium-size board machines. According to the local government, there are more than 300 paper mills in the area.

Metso and Quzhou Wuzhou Special Paper Co., Ltd have signed an automation contract. The contract includes QCS, the full scope of profilers (Metso IQ Dilution Profiler, Metso IQ Steam Profiler and Metso IQ Moisturizer), Metso PQV (web break monitoring and web inspection), and consistency transmitters. Startup is scheduled for September 2012. Metso is one of the suppliers in China with the capability and experience of offering a complete solution for special paper grades. This was one of key facts behind Metso being chosen as the supplier. The machine produces special grades with a width of 3.4 m and a speed of 900 m/m.

Product information

Quality Control Systems and associated profile controls are a critical part of papermaking. Metso IQ is a comprehensive approach to QCS that integrates process quality management, measurements and profile controls with profilers to provide operating personnel with what they need to understand and manage the process. Metso’s expertise and portfolio of proven equipment, applications and solutions are geared towards producing measureable improvements that translate directly to improved profitability.

The unified Metso Process and Quality Vision system is a multi-functional tool for analyzing the origins of breaks and defining the source of coarse or very fine and complex web faults that do not necessarily cause breaks but nonetheless have to be eliminated before they become customer problems. Thus, the system has a dual purpose: to improve web runnability and to help the mill to ship the best fault-free customer quality.

The centralization of the analytical services into Labtium will support customer’s needs in a more efficient and effective way which provides simplified access to its streamlined operations proactively. Moreover, consumers of VTT Group’s other services and operations can also be accessed from one center of excellence, Labtium Ltd.

“The centralization of the analytical services to Labtium prepares the way for providing even more comprehensive services to our customers. As such, we will be able to focus effectively on customer’s needs and changes coupled with developing totally new service concepts,” says Tiina Hausalo, CEO Labtium Ltd.

“Moreover, the new distribution of services provides the best possible foundation for business within the group. The resources will be efficiently exploited, when both the analytical techniques and the laboratory experts are located in the same centralized location,” says Laura Apilo, CEO VTT Expert Services Ltd.

White truffles from Muzzana del Turgnano, a small town in Northern Italy between Trieste and Udine, have become the world's first truffles to obtain PEFC certification. 

"While the main focus of PEFC as the world's largest forest certification system is promoting sustainable forest management and certified timber, the importance of certified so-called 'non-timber forest products' cannot be underestimated," said Antonio Brunori, Secretary General ofPEFC Italy. "These products often represent a significant source of income for rural communities (all over the world) and are an integral part of local people's lives. In addition help in increasing their connection to the forest, that is certified for its sustainable management : this certification of one of its products will help them in comunicating their territory and natural resources, enhancing the value for tourism and hospitality activities."

"Furthermore, non-wood forest products allow us to better inform the public about the benefits of certification as people can relate more to forest derived products such as truffles, essential oils, mushrooms and even beer - products that they can experience with all of their senses. Timber products such as wooden beams, paper, or furniture tend to be of a more 'functional' nature and therefore do not convey the message of sustainability that well," Mr. Brunori continued.

The truffles are harvested by-hand in the region's PEFC-certified "Baredi Forest" - covering over 160 hectares of communal land. The Muzzana white truffle boasts a unique odour and is considered to be very tasty and of high value to chefs everywhere, and has a retail value of around €3,000 per kilo.

Certification of the truffles was pioneered by the "Associazione Muzzana Amatori Tartufi" (Muzzana Amateur Truffle Association) and involves a system that assigns 'barcodes' to each and every truffle harvested on behalf of the association. In addition to originating from PEFC-certified forests, this system also ensures that the truffles come from local forests, namely the Baredi Forest.

"The white truffle is the most valued of all underground fungi and represents a great example of the value that non-wood forest resources offer to local communities," said Enore Casanova, President of PEFC Friuli-Venezia Giulia. "Only local people with the required skills and experience in harvesting are allowed to pick these certified truffles, and we are very proud to have harvested the first PEFC-certified truffles in the world."

Alfa Laval – a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling – has won an order to supply newly developed decanters for cleaning of industrial wastewater in Canada. The order value is approximately SEK 110 million and delivery is scheduled for 2012.

The order from Newalta Corporation, Canada’s leading provider of engineered environmental solutions for industrial customers, consists of specially developed Alfa Laval decanters to be used for large wastewater reclamation operations.

“This is the second large order for these newly developed Alfa Laval decanters, and it confirms our ability to develop technical solutions that meet new customer demands in water treatment,” says Lars Renström, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group.

Did you know that… Alfa Laval’s new decanter has close to 50 percent lower power consumption than competing decanters and is expected to have twice the lifetime on main wear parts?

Wood chip exports from Latin America reached a record high in 2011, with pulp mills in Japan and Europe being the major export destinations, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly.

Global trade of wood chips has gone up substantially the past two years. Hardwood chip export from Chile, Uruguay and Brail was up 43 percent in 2011 compared to 2009, as reported by the Wood Resource Quarterly. A clear majority of the increase was Eucalyptus chips destined for pulp mills in Japan and Europe.

Seattle, USA. Wood chip exports from Latin America are on track to reach a record high of almost eight million tons in 2011, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. This would be an increase of seven percent from last year and of almost 60 percent higher than in 2006. Chile is by far the biggest exporter, accounting for two-thirds of the total shipments from the continent, while Brazil and Uruguay both account for about 16 percent each. In 2011, Chile was the world’s second largest supplier of hardwood chips after Vietnam. Latin America’s hardwood chip export volumes accounted for approximately 50 percent of globally traded wood chips, a share that has grown from 34 percent five years ago.

Historically, between 80-90 percent of the exported wood chips from Latin America have been destined for Japanese pulp mills, but there has been a diversification of consumers over the past few years. Although shipments to Japan have gone up by over 30 percent from 2006, the share of total exports has declined and is currently around 70 percent.

The biggest change from five years ago is that pulp mills in Europe have been buying much more Eucalyptus chip, particularly from Chile and Uruguay. In 2011, total shipments to Europe reached almost 1.7 million tons, which was slightly lower than 2010 but more than a doubling from 2009, according to the WRQ. The three major importing countries in Europe are Spain, Portugal and Norway. In addition, there have also been a few shipments to Finnish and Swedish pulp mills the past few years.

New destinations for Eucalyptus chips from Latin America the past five years include Morocco, Turkey and China. There are expectations that Chile will increase its shipments to China in the coming years because of higher demand from new pulp mills in the country.

Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS)(TSX: UFS) is extending its award-winning PAPERbecause campaign with a series of new print ads that show why paper still plays a vital role in everything from today's business meetings to educating tomorrow's business leaders.

"PAPERbecause, Learning something new deserves all your attention. (CNW Group/DOMTAR CORPORATION)".

The print ads will start to appear in January in leading paper, graphic design and printing trade publications. The campaign will expand in the first quarter to include prominent consumer publications such as Fast Company, National Geographic and The New York Times. The print campaign shows how using paper responsibly makes sense in our homes and professional lives, and how it's also an environmentally sound choice. The print ads will join a series of videosand banner ads appearing on a variety of websites.

"PAPERbecause, Bringing in the mail is one the few things we still have in common. (CNW Group/DOMTAR CORPORATION)".

"The PAPERbecause print campaign gives Domtar a platform to show how paper - a sustainable, renewable and recyclable product - fits so nicely into our lives," said Lewis Fix, Vice-President of Sustainable Business and Brand Management at Domtar. "Domtar is a leader in sustainable paper production, and we promote the responsible use of paper. PAPERbecause reminds people of why paper is so vital today."

"PAPERbecause, Sustainability is the only business model that will survive. (CNW Group/DOMTAR CORPORATION)".

Since Domtar unveiled the PAPERbecause campaign last year, there has been substantial support from paper industry, printing, graphic design and marketing partners. Many have picked up elements of the campaign and provided significant exposure on websites, in catalogs, at conferences and other outlets.

"PAPERbecause demonstrates that paper is sustainable, personal and purposeful. It's easier to learn on paper, senior executives prefer print versus online information, people make purchases as a result of direct mail, and paper is one of the most recycled products on the planet - more than 63 percent of paper gets recycled," noted Fix. "That's a pretty exciting story about a product that has been in use for more than 2,000 years."

For more information, please visit www.paperbecause.com.

A warm welcome to Paptech in Helsinki - this year's most important meeting place in Finland for the pulp and paper industry.

Visit Paptech and take part of exciting industry news, discover the latest products, listen to interesting seminars, meet colleagues and bring lots of stimulating ideas back to your office.

Paptech is an event in a totally new format aimed at the Finnish pulp and paper industry. Paptech is held in the old customs building in Helsinki, Wanha Satama, which is charming and atmospheric. Focus lies on networking and the exchange of information, amongst others through matchmaking, open seminars, gala dinner, cafés, comfortable meeting lounge and much more.

Exhibitors are mainly Finnish, but European and other international companies are also represented, and those cover almost all the spectrum of products for the pulp and paper making industry.

The seminars will be held in English and will be relevant to most in the industry, keep an eye on our newsletters and www.paptech.com from mid-February to see the whole programme.

The Visitor Registration is now open. To see a list of exhibiting companies and to register for free in advance, please click here .

Paptech is open on Wednesday, March 21 from 9.00-17.00 hrs and on Thursday, March 22 from 9.00-16.00 hrs. The Gala Dinner takes place in the evening of March 21.

If you would like to get in touch with a specific company at Paptech, or if there are any topics you would like to see in the seminar programme, please email us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please visit www.paptech.com for further information such as directions to the venue, our recommended hotels etc.

There is still space available if you would like to exhibit and it is EASY and COST EFFECTIVE to order an all-inclusive stand package. Please contact Ms Annika Rosenberg, Key Account Manager, on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or telephone +358 40 7715775