Displaying items by tag: södra

The Södra Timber Traryd sawmill is being converted from pine sawing to sawing all varieties of hardwood. At the same time the Södra Interiör business area will take over the sawmill from Södra Timber on 1 April. Until then, pine will be phased out, and at the same time a log store comprising mainly oak and birch will be built up.

"We are pleased to see that our strategy, which involves offering products made using all the hardwood varieties growing in Götaland, is starting to gain ground among consumers. We have a strong need for oak at Södra Interiör thanks to an increase in customer demand. Moreover, we are seeing an interesting and growing market for birch products both in Sweden and on the continent," said Håkan Svensson, CEO of Södra Interiör.

The target is to saw 35,000 m3 (solid volume under bark) this year. This volume is expected to grow over the next few years. The sawmill will also start sawing aspen, ash, alder and beech later this year.

"Demand for aspen and alder is already so great that we could basically sell as much of it as we can get the raw material for," continued Svensson.

"We have also started to see greater sales of ash and beech via our sales of bonded panels, for example."

The sawmill in Traryd will supplement Södra Interiör's hardwood sawmill in Djursdala, outside Vimmerby, where operations are not affected by the takeover. The objective is for the Traryd sawmill to buy in its raw materials from the west and south of Götaland and for Djursdala to get its raw materials from the east of Götaland.

Södra is to shut down most of its operations at its Södra Timber Åtvidaberg sawmill. Some 39 employees will be affected by the change, and negotiations under the provisions of the Codetermination in Industry Act will commence immediately.

"The sawmill has developed well, but times are changing. The market for sawn timber products is tough, and competition for raw materials has increased," said Peter Nilsson, CEO of Södra Timber.

"Södra has to have first-class facilities in the face of competition in order to safeguard its ability to pay for timber, and the sawmill in Åtvidaberg requires significant investment at present. We do not think it is possible to continue investing in all ten of our sawmills, and this change will result in a more appropriate structure," continued Nilsson.

"Overall, we are seeing a good balance in our timber business in eastern areas thanks to our operations in Kinda and the development we are seeing in Mönsterås. We will also be increasing our sawmill production and will need more raw material at Södra Timber Värö over the year, where we are currently building a sawmill with an annual capacity of 750,000 cubic metres," added Nilsson.

However, the pressure impregnation facility in Åtvidaberg will remain in place. Södra Skog's office in Åtvidaberg will not be affected by the changeover. Södra will still need a certain level of timber on site for seasonal storage.

At the same time, the Traryd sawmill will be transferred from Södra Timber to Södra Interiör, and converted from pine production to 100 per cent hardwood. This move is due to the fact that Södra Interiör is increasing its sales of interior products made from all the hardwood varieties growing in southern Sweden. (See separate press release.)

"Handing over the sawmill in Traryd to Södra Interiör is a positive step. We have found a really excellent solution for the sawmill and the staff who work there," Nilsson concluded.

The pulp market remains well balanced. Södra Cell’s price in Europe for softwood pulp will therefore remain unchanged from January levels at USD 950 per tonne.

For further information, please contact:
Ulf Edman, President of Södra Cell International, +46 70 677 8769
Per Braconier, Director of Corporate Communications, Södra, +46 70 534 5166

Södra has confirmed that it is maintaining its price for softwood pulp in Europe at USD 950 per tonne, valid from 1 January 2011. “The market for softwood pulp is balanced”, said Ulf Edman, president of Södra Cell International.

For further information, please contact:
Ulf Edman, President of Södra Cell International, +46 70 677 8769
Per Braconier, Director of Corporate Communications, Södra, +46 70 534 5166

Pöyry's Energy business group has been awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a tall oil plant of Mörrum Mill in Sweden by Södra Cell AB. The value of the assignment is not disclosed. The project will be executed over a period of ten months.

 The assignment includes a 4.2 t/h crude tall oil plant with auxiliaries based on the HDS® (Hydro Dynamic Separation) technology, which is Pöyry´s proprietary know-how. Similar technology based equipment has already been installed in the 20 most modern pulp mills in Europe, the USA, Canada and China. Currently, Pöyry has one similar project under construction in Austria. The plant has high yield, good availability and low maintenance costs and it produces high-quality crude tall oil.

Södra Cell AB is one of the world's leading suppliers of paper pulp. The Group has five pulp mills; Mönterås, Mörrum and Varö in Sweden and Tofte and Folla in Norway.

PÖYRY PLC

Additional information by:

Ari Asikainen, President, Energy business group, Pöyry PLC, Finland

Tel. +358 10 33 24476

Tero Vainiomäki, Vice President, Project Management, EPC projects, Pöyry Finland Oy, Energy business unit

Tel. +358 10 33 24538

Pöyry is a global consulting and engineering company dedicated to balanced sustainability and responsible business. With quality and integrity at our core, we deliver best-in-class management consulting, total solutions, and design and supervision. Our in-depth expertise extends to the fields of energy, industry, urban & mobility and water & environment. Pöyry has 7000 experts and the local office network in about 50 countries. Pöyry's net sales in 2009 were EUR 674 million and the company's shares are quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. (Pöyry PLC: POY1V).

DISTRIBUTION:

www.poyry.com

Södra Cell has been invited to participate in a feasibility study regarding a pulp mill project in Russia. Södra, the Russian bank VEB and Angara Paper have signed a Letter of Intent. Södras role in the project will be industrial partner and responsible for sales and marketing of future pulp production.

The feasibility study concerns constructing a pulp mill with a capacity of 1.1 million ton softwood pulp per year. The project has cutting rights of 6 million cubic meter softwood per year in the Krasnojarsk area.

For further information, please contact:
Gunilla Saltin, CEO Södra Cell, +46 (0) 470 894 26
Per Braconier, Director Corporate Communications, +46 (0) 470 894 62

The Board of Directors at Södra Timber has approved an investment in an automatic sorting facility at the company's sawmill in Unnefors, outside Jönköping, Sweden. This sawmill produces 110,000 cubic metres of pine annually. The investment amounts to approximately SEK 12 million ($1.7 million).

"We are seeing positive development in pine sawing in Unnefors. This investment will further enhance our competitiveness in that it will allow us to use our raw materials more effectively. It will also improve our quality sorting, which will be a major plus for our customers," said Peter Nilsson, CEO of Södra Timber.

For further information, please contact:
Peter Nilsson, CEO of Södra Timber, tel.: +46 70 315 09 27

The gross price for softwood pulp in January - September 2010 was SEK 6,776 per tonne (4,854) and for hardwood pulp SEK 6,148 per tonne (4,126). On Friday 15 October, corresponding prices were SEK 6,338 per tonne for long fibre and SEK 5,698 per tonne for short fibre. Deliveries of market pulp for the period increased to 1,552,000 tonnes (1,388,000). Södra's stock of market pulp remained unchanged, at 157,100 tonnes (157,700) on 30 September compared with the corresponding period the year before.

"We are continuing to see strong deliveries within Europe and believe that deliveries to Asia will increase. The development of the dollar will be crucial for our earning capacity," said Leif Brodén, President and CEO, Södra.

"With a two-week maintenance stop at both Södra Cell Mönsterås and Södra Cell Tofte during the last quarter, we anticipate a reduction in our pulp stocks. 2011 will see limited volumes of market pulp. Together with a continuing improvement in the situation for our pulp customers, we are still seeing a good market balance," added Brodén.

After a dramatic fall in new build construction in the wake of the financial crisis, there are signs of an upturn from record low levels. Södra's principal markets in the UK, Sweden and Norway are showing positive growth and sales in the USA are expected to increase by 50 per cent in 2011. Activities in the important renovation sector continue to be good, especially in Scandinavia.

Export volumes to North Africa are at a stable level. So far, Södra Timber has been able to make up for the strong krona through price increases in local currencies. In the short term, during the last quarter of the year, uncertainty has been growing over this issue. Increased world production and the currency situation will be determining factors and the possibility of an extended production stop over the Christmas and New Year holiday cannot be ruled out.
 
"A growing proportion of the high actual productivity increase of 2.3 per cent (1.7) is coming from contributions made by our personnel. We were able to implement 2,421 (1,502) improvement suggestions over the period," Brodén commented.

"The fact that we are able to deliver an increase in productivity during bust as well as boom periods is the hallmark of our long-term creation of value and a great tribute to our employees."

Raw materials consumption within the industry continues to be high. After the summer's record high, supply from final felling has fallen but is still at a high level. Despite tough competition for raw materials, the timber market is reaching a balance after a period of rapidly rising prices.

Demand for hard pulpwood is particularly great and Södra is therefore raising the price of all hard pulpwood range by SEK 30 per m3 as of 18 October 2010. The new price of the range of birch pulpwood will be SEK 330 per m3.

There is a pressing need to thin out the forests and in order to stimulate a continuation in high thinning activity, Södra is increasing the thinning premium on pine and spruce pulpwood to SEK 50 per m3sub. The premium will apply until 31 December 2010.

The market for solid biomass fuel is balanced with good demand and good supply.

For further information please contact:
Leif Brodén, President and CEO, Södra +46 (0) 705 58 94 26
Mikael Staffas, CFO +46 (0) 705 11 64 97
Per Braconier, Director of Communications +46 (0) 70 534 51 66

Some time ago, Södra Timber took the decision to invest in a new sawmill in Värö with a capacity of 750,000 cubic metres. All licences for the new sawmill have now been obtained and the ground work got under way in the middle of July.

This investment involves the transfer of machinery and equipment from the German sawmill company Klausner Group's facility in Adelebsen, Germany. The entire facility will be moved from Germany to Värö in Sweden.

Klausner will be responsible for dismantling, relocating, constructing and starting up the Värö facility. Dismantling is under way in Germany and construction at the Värö site will start in October. Klausner has secured the participation of machinery manufacturers Link and Springer in the project.

"This means that the same staff that built the sawmill in Adelebsen will now be reassembling the sawmill in Värö," explained Peter Nilsson, President of Södra Timber.

"We plan to begin production at the facility in the summer of 2011. Production at the existing sawmill in Värö will continue as usual during the entire construction period," Nilsson commented.

For further information, please contact:
Peter Nilsson, President Södra Timber, tel. +46 70 315 09 27

Generally improved volumes and market prices helped to ensure a strong result for the first six months of 2010. Operating profit increased to SEK 1,084 million (9) and return on capital employed amounted to 21 per cent (0).

Cyclically adjusted, a real productivity improvement of 2.9 per cent was achieved, equating on a yearly basis to SEK 284 million. Much of this positive result is being achieved from implementing suggestions for improvements made by Södra’s employees. Ideas were implemented at a record pace, and over the first six months of the year, 70 suggestions per week were being taken on board, saving SEK 70 million.

The timber market has been characterised by huge competition. Södra has now contracted timber for the rest of the year. The total cost for the raw timber is estimated to increase over the second half of the year by SEK 330 million.

"With historically high pulp prices in our order books, we are now expecting to see slightly higher stocks for the third quarter, which in seasonal terms is slightly weaker. Some of our traditional pulp customers have not yet been able to increase their end prices in line with the increase in pulp prices over the first six months of the year. Fairly weak deliveries to Asia in the first six months of the year have been fully compensated for by better volumes from our domestic market, Europe. We estimate that all our pulp units will deliver an operating profit for the year which is well in excess of the return requirements," said Leif Brodén, Södra's Group Chief Executive.

"Over the next twelve months, we are expecting to be able to start supplying sulphate pulp for textile purposes. At present only 2 per cent of the world's textile fibres are based on cellulose, which is equivalent to around 4 million tonnes of market pulp. We believe there is fast-growing, major potential in this product field which will replace volumes in traditional segments. Certified renewable forest raw materials have major opportunities for taking market shares from both synthetic and cotton-based alternatives," continued Brodén.

New construction activities in Europe and the USA remain at historically low levels. At the same time, the renovation rate is relatively high on a number of important timber markets. Production in Europe and Canada is being held back due to limited access to raw materials. This means that the timber market is in good balance, and further price increases are to be expected over the third quarter. There is a certain degree of uncertainty in the face of the fourth quarter concerning how the austerity packages now being implemented in Europe will affect the construction and renovation market. Demand for architect-designed personal houses is still high in Sweden. House manufacturer Trivselhus is again delivering positive results and has a strong order book equivalent to six months.

Work on production synergies and new products in the field of Interior Products is being intensified. The launch of new hardwood qualities is continuing throughout the year. The market is undergoing a consolidation phase in which Södra Interiör has been a driving force. Prospects are good for the rest of the year.

The biofuel market is still good, and there is development potential in a number of product areas. Södra believes it can achieve a total of 4 TWh in external biofuel deliveries over the year. Bioenergy deliveries, in a variety of forms, are becoming ever more important for Södra. In the fields of bioelectricity and district heating, 466 GWh (379) was supplied to outside sources over the first six months of the year, and during the year Södra Cell Värö became the world's first sulphate pulp mill to be free of fossil fuels for normal operation. Södra’s target is to convert all its mills to fossil-free operation by 2014.

For further information, please contact:

Leif Brodén, President and CEO, Södra
+46 (0) 705 58 94 26

Mikael Staffas, CFO
+46 (0) 705 11 64 97

Per Braconier, Director of Communications
+46 (0) 70 534 51 66

To see the full release follow this link