On 21st September 2018 Vaasa administrative court has given its decision concerning the appeals of Finnpulp’s environmental permits. The terms of the permit will remain in the format provided by the Regional Administration of Eastern Finland with minor changes.

The court dismissed appeals almost entirely in the process that lasted one and a half years. In its decision, the Administrative Court considers that permit made by authorities has taken notice of all operation and its impact on the environment.

The progress of the permit process will enable Finnpulp to initiate financial negotiations for the next phase of the mill project. Finnish-Chinese owned company is currently carrying out pre-engineering of the plant. It is estimated to be completed next year. The pre-engineering will include preparation of the construction stage of the mill’s processes, technologies and mill site layouts. After completion of the engineering, the company will make its final investment decision on the construction of a bioproduction mill in Sorsasalo, Kuopio. 

Finnpulp's bioproduct mill will be the world's largest softwood pulp mill. The annual pulp production capacity of the bioproduction mill is 1.2 million tons. Mill will also produce 60,000 tons of tall oil and one terawatt-hour (TWh) bioelectricity to the domestic power grid. The mill will use 6.7 million cubic meters of raw wood material per year. Once completed, the investment of 1.4 billion euros bioproduction mill’s effect on Finland’s export income will be +1% and has a permanent employment effect of around 3,400 people annually.

For more information, please contact:

Finnpulp Oy / CEO Martti Fredrikson, tel. +358 50 310 4400, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

To strengthen its service capabilities close to customers in North America, Valmet has expanded the operations of its service center in Neenah, Wisconsin, USA, to include comprehensive spreader roll services. The new spreader roll workshop is ready to serve customers in the pulp, paper, board and tissue industries as of October 2018.

"Our state-of-the-art spreader roll service workshop in Neenah, equipped with the latest designated technology and work areas, provides high quality and fast services to our customers," says Jukka K. Toikkanen, Global Technology Manager, Roll Maintenance, Valmet. "We have, for example, a dust-free clean room for the handling and installation of bearings, which ensures high quality and delivers longer roll running times. We also now perform our own rubber sleeve manufacturing in Neenah ensuring fast, flexible and high-quality services for our customers in every way."

Improved reliability and wrinkle-free runs

Valmet spreader roll reconditioning services result in a clear increase in service intervals and cut overall maintenance costs. In addition to keeping spreader rolls in excellent condition, spreader roll services also ensure optimized roll performance, improved end product quality and reliable, wrinkle-free runs.

In addition to Neenah, Valmet provides spreader roll services from 7 other locations around the world, and has globally serviced several hundred spreader rolls. Apart from spreader roll maintenance, Valmet can provide spare rolls and new spreader roll solutions for all spreading applications in the pulp and paper industry.

Information about Neenah service center

Valmet's roll service center in Neenah, Wisconsin, provides modular maintenance solutions such as roll maintenance services, roll reconditioning services and roll upgrades for all type of rolls - now also for spreader rolls.  The Neenah facility also provides a wide selection of roll covers to produce end quality that meets paper makers' every need.

Read more on valmet.com  Valmet service center in Neenah, North America

For further information, please contact:

Chuck Chase, Product Manager, Spreader Roll Services, North America, Valmet, tel. +1 603 303 5558

Andre Chouinard, Business Manager, New Rolls, North America, Valmet, tel. +1 514 926 3023

Jukka K. Toikkanen, Global Technology Manager, Roll Maintenance, Valmet, tel. +358 44 576 8207

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2017 were approximately EUR 3.1 billion. Our more than 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Zanders continues to invest in its personal future and welcomes six new employees at the beginning of the new training year: two apprentices each will learn the professions of paper technologist, mechatronics engineer and machine and plant operator at Gohrsmühle mill.

Zanders is offering the apprenticeship as a machine and plant operator for the first time in order to make the training offer more attractive and flexible.

From left to right: Martón Turbucz (machine and plant operator), Tim Wätzold (paper technologist), Serhat Aydin (mechatronics engineer), Walid Kheder (machine and plant operator), Christoph Michel (mechatronics engineer), Lucas Steller (paper technologist).

Thomas Döring, Head of Human Resources at Zanders: "The aim of the new training is to arouse the interest of young people who were previously not interested in working for a paper producer. In addition to the industry-specific paper technologist, with the mechatronics engineer and the machine and plant operator we can now offer two trainings, which will open up new perspectives for young people."

The application process for 2019 has already begun and in all three apprenticeships there are several places to be allocated, said Döring.

About Zanders
Zanders is a German manufacturer of high-quality special papers and cartons for labels, packaging and graphic applications. Founded in 1829 by Johann Wilhelm Zanders in Bergisch Gladbach, the company still operates the Gohrsmühle paper mill thanks to around 500 loyal employees. The portfolio includes high-gloss label papers and premium board qualities of the traditional brand Chromolux, one of the world's leading paper brands, as well as high quality variants with extra smooth or naturally napped surfaces. These include Zanlabel label papers and Zanpack packaging board qualities. Especially designed for digital printing, Zanders offers the premium range of Chromolux digital and Silver digital brands as well as Zanjet, a double-sided coated paper for commercial high-speed inkjet printing. The portfolio is rounded off by Zanbarrier, the barrier paper for flexible food packaging, which is available in the variants Zanbarrier OGR (Oil and Grease Resistant) and Zanbarrier NGR (Natural Grease Resistant
– a barrier function completely without fluorocarbon or other chemicals). The company's customers are manufacturers of beverages such as spirits; sparkling wine, wine, beer or water, food and luxury foods, tobacco products, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

The LNG company Skangas and Metsä Tissue Corporation have entered into an agreement on the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Mänttä tissue paper mill for production process use. At the mill in Mänttä, Finland, LNG will replace liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the paper drying process. The fuel switch from LPG to LNG will improve competitiveness and cut the company’s carbon dioxide emissions.

LNG will be delivered to the Mänttä mill by road tanker from the Skangas Pori LNG terminal. Before being used, LNG will be regasified at the mill. In cooperation with the Technical Services of its parent company, Gasum, Skangas will carry out the modification and equipment installation work relating to the fuel change.

Metsä tissue Mänttä

”We’re aiming to constantly improve the mill’s environmental performance. LNG will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from our production, which was the decisive factor in our decision to make the switch,” Metsä Tissue Mänttä Mill Manager Kari Karttunen says. ”We celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Mänttä mill in September. We’re developing our operations so that we’ll be producing tissue and cooking papers sustainably in the future, too.”

”It's great that Metsä Tissue switches to cleaner energy and at the same time the Finnish LNG market grows. LNG is an excellent alternative as a fuel for the various paper industry processes and also for energy production. We offer environmentally friendly LNG for diverse industrial needs,” Skangas CEO Kimmo Rahkamo says.

The Metsä Tissue Mänttä mill produces toilet tissues, household towels, handkerchiefs, industrial rolls and greaseproof paper for baking and cooking products. The mill has three tissue paper machines, one greaseproof paper machine and 11 converting lines for tissue paper.

LNG can be used to replace the use of petroleum-based fuels in industry, energy production and heavy-duty road transport. Using LNG instead of oil helps achieve significant cuts in particulate as well as sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. The use of LNG also enables a switch to liquefied biogas (LBG) without any additional investments. LNG meets the requirements set by the Sulphur Directive regulating shipping emissions as well as the stricter emission limits to be applied in the future.

LNG termina Pori GASUM SKANGAS

With its high-quality tissue and cooking papers, Metsä Tissue makes life more comfortable every day. Metsä Tissue is a leading tissue paper products supplier to households and professionals in Europe and the world’s leading supplier of baking and cooking papers. The company’s main brands are Lambi, Serla, Mola, Tento, Katrin and SAGA. With production units in five countries, Metsä Tissue employs a total of about 2,800 people and its sales in 2017 were €1.0 billion. Metsä Tissue is part of Metsä Group. www.metsatissue.com

The LNG company Skangas is the leading player in the Nordic LNG market. The company supplies LNG for shipping, industrial and heavy-duty road transport needs. We help our customers pursue their environmental and operational targets by offering efficient and stable LNG deliveries. Skangas is a subsidiary of the energy company Gasum Ltd, and its shareholders are Gasum Ltd with 70% and the Norwegian Lyse Energi AS with 30%. www.skangas.com

For more information please contact:

Jouni Bedda, Key Account Manager, Skangas
Phone: +358 40 744 2870, firstname.surname(a)skangas.com

Tomi Pesonen, Vice President, Energy Markets, Metsä Group
Phone:+358 50 442 32 44, firstname.surname(a)metsagroup.com

Valmet will supply new winding technology and surrounding equipment for Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel GmbH & Co. KG in Germany. The existing winder will be replaced with this new winder to meet the increasing line production of paper machine PM4. The start-up is scheduled for the beginning of 2020.

The order is included in Valmet's third quarter of 2018 orders received. The value of the order will not be disclosed. The total value of an order of this type is typically around EUR 5-10 million.

A photo after the winder deal, from left: Esa Ananin (Valmet), Ulrich Lange (Varel), Sami Anttilainen (Valmet), Thomas Müller (Varel) and Dirk Petersen (Valmet).

"We needed a reliable and high-capacity winder for our upcoming production capacity increases. Valmet's two-drum winder with Dual Unwinding technology were answers to these needs. Especially, the Dual Unwinding technology was a must to get to the required capacity level," says Thomas Müller, General Production Manager of Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel. "Papier u. Kartonfabrik Varel is a medium-sized family owned business. We produce cardboards and corrugated papers for our customers in the packaging industry on the basis of waste paper using state-of-the-art, highly available and reliable technologies. We were convinced of the large number of Valmet's references of both two-drum winders and Dual Unwinding," he continues.

Technical details about the delivery

Valmet's delivery for the new high-capacity winder area will include an OptiWin Drum two-drum winder with transfer rails, a parent roll turning table, a reel rebuild and an OptiSlush Broke pulper. The winder is equipped with a Dual Unwind two-unwind system. This feature makes it possible to change the parent roll in only one minute giving the winder more capacity. The Dual Unwind sequence is fully optimized and independent of a crane.

The winder with a web width of 5,600-mm will be designed for recycled testliner grades with a basis weight range of 100 - 280 g/m². The production speed will be 2,700 m/min.

About the customer Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel 

Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel is a medium-sized family business with about 540 employees. It produces cardboard and corrugated board from waste paper for the German and international packaging industry, using the latest environmentally friendly technologies, which are at the heart of the packaging solutions of many well-known products. With an annual production capacity of over 850,000 tonnes on four modern production lines, Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel is one of the largest production sites of the European paper industry.

Papeleira Coreboard S.A., a company that produces 220 tons per day of cardboard for the paper core and angle manufacturing industry, has acquired a BM 2600 Paper Winder as part of its machinery and facilities upgrade project.  

Papeleira Coreboard is part of a group that includes Spiralpack and the paper core manufacturer Cicarsa. After a period of heavy investments to optimize their manufacturing process, they have become the benchmark for recycled paper in Portugal.  

With the cardboard production machine upgraded, the Pasaban BM winder contributes significantly to meeting the objectives set by the company: to produce and convert safely and efficiently 220 tons per day of recycled cardboard.  

The winder is an off-line pope winder equipped with 39 automatically positioned slitters. It converts the cardboard produced by the main PM into narrow reels that will later be used to make “Coreboard” and “Coretissue” cardboard cores. And it has the capacity to process 180 to 700 gsm cardboard at an operating speed of 1500 m/min.  

At Pasaban we continue to meet our commitment to provide our customers with customized solutions that help then position themselves as a quality benchmarks in their sector.

Valmet announced on September 16, 2016, that Suzano Papel e Celulose S.A. had filed a request for arbitration against Valmet Celulose, Papel e Energia Ltda, Valmet AB and Valmet Technologies Oy, subsidiaries of Valmet Oyj, claiming approximately EUR 80 million. Valmet disputed the claims brought by Suzano and pursued claims of its own against Suzano.

The parties of the dispute have now reached an agreement and the arbitration proceedings have been closed. The outcome of the agreement will not have significant impact on Valmet's financial result for 2018.

VALMET

For further information, please contact:

Rasmus Oksala, General Councel, Valmet, tel. +358 10 672 0026

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2017 were approximately EUR 3.1 billion. Our more than 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

The first fully automatic plant installed at Fujiang Nanfang by A.Celli Nonwovens has been successfully commissioned.

The commissioning of the line on schedule is without doubt an important first step towards a close collaboration between A.Celli Nonwovens and this leading group.

The scope of supply is a Master Roll Winder, a Rewinder with  Slittomatic^® automatic knife positioning system, an Automatic Shaft Handling system and a fully automatic Roll Handling & Packaging system equipped with two robots.

The feather in the cap of this project is the innovative DSS (Defect Stop Management) system integrated with the Roll handling system for the segregation and removal of defects during the production cycle.

With this new supply, A.Celli Nonwovens has gone one step further in securing its success in China, and offers its client significant advantages in terms of quality and productivity of the line and conquering the Chinse market, which is of particular interest.

Fujian Nanfang Textile Co., Ltd. - Company Overview

Fujian Nanfang Textile Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells textile products in China. The company offers cotton yarns, cotton cloth, polyurethane (PU), leather fabrics, PU leather, and non-woven fabrics, as well as environmental filter materials and knitted fabrics. It is also involved in the provision of textile products technology services, as well as the import and export of textile accessories and textile products. The company is based in Nanping, China.

Valmet has received orders for next-generation web monitoring systems from Shanying Huazhong Paper Industry Co., Ltd. in China. The full-scale Valmet IQ Web Monitoring Systems will be installed on two paper machines at the company to improve and maintain machine productivity.

The orders were included in Valmet's first and second quarter 2018 orders received. Typically, the order value of these kinds of automation system deliveries is below EUR one million.

"Shanying has a clear strategy for the Industrial Internet and developing the automation level of its machines, and we are now taking steps forward with this. We believe that with Valmet's solutions and services, we can improve our product quality and machine runnability, as well as optimize machine efficiency," says Liu Fubin, Purchasing Director of Shanying International Holdings Co., Ltd.

"Valmet is capable of offering complete automation packages, including process controls and quality controls. Valmet IQ Web Monitoring System plays a vital role in developing quality and total machine efficiency. We are delighted to be able to provide all the applications and services that our customer needs to achieve these demanding targets," says Zhutuan Guo, Sales Director, China, Automation, Valmet.

Technical information about Valmet IQ Web Monitoring System

Valmet IQ Web Monitoring System is a tool to improve the runnability of all production machines in the paper industry. Excellent image quality, synchronized video recordings and an easy-to-use operator interface ensure quick root cause analyses of web breaks. Spearhead technology utilized in system components, together with field-tested hardware and professional services, make Valmet the market leader of web monitoring systems.

Information about the customer

Shanying Huazhong Paper Industry Co., Ltd. is a part of Shanying International Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the largest industrial papermaking enterprises and packaging board manufacturers in China. Established in 1999, the company has been listed on Shanghai Stock Exchange since 2001. In 2013, the company was restructured as part of Ji'an Group Co., Ltd. The company has subsidiaries in the Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei and Tianjin provinces, among others. It has set up wholly owned companies, for example, in the US, UK, Netherlands Germany, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. Shanying International has an annual yield of 3,050,000 tons of paper and 1 billion square meters of cardboard and paper carton, ranking top within the industry in terms of scale.

S.TO.R.I., owned by the Toscotec Group, specializes in maintenance services for all minor and major rolls used in papermaking and converting machinery of the tissue and paper industry. In 2017, S.TO.R.I. set a record for turnover in its forty-five year history. This positive performance derives from the strategic synergies achieved with Toscotec, who acquired 100% of S.TO.R.I.’s shares in December 2011. In the period from 2012 to 2017, S.TO.R.I. sustained a 30% growth rate and interim results in 2018 have been confirming this trend, leading to expectations that it will outperform last year’s achievements.

Since 2012, S.TO.R.I. and Toscotec have deepened their long-standing cooperation. By merging S.TO.R.I.’s specialization in rolls maintenance with Toscotec’s engineering capabilities, they accomplished full integration of expertise and higher efficiency in the design and services of roll refurbishing. S.TO.R.I.’s workshop and offices are located inside Toscotec’s headquarters, in Marlia (Lucca).

S.TO.R.I.’s professional experience was built over forty-six years, starting from its foundation in 1972, when it started providing maintenance for papermaking and converting machines. S.TO.R.I. focuses on the inspection, repair and overhaul of not only press rolls but all other rolls, such as forming roll, wire and felt rolls, pope reel drum, and spools. Its mission is to deliver highly specialized services on a continuous basis. The timing becomes important insomuch as customers aim to increase their OEE and reduce maintenance costs.

S.TO.R.I.’s specialists make a precise assessment of the wear conditions of a roll and evaluate its expected performance and risk of failure, so that overhauling can be scheduled efficiently, maximising operation life and minimizing maintenance costs. The majority of S.TO.R.I.’s customers nowadays rely on predictive maintenance. Through regular vibration analyses, S.TO.R.I. estimates the performance trend of a given roll and the possibility of failure. Based on these results, it predicts the period before the next maintenance. This assessment is always a balance of different factors. Drawing on their vast experience, S.TO.R.I.’s specialists can provide the customer with a number of solutions, factoring in time, quality and cost. Based on the contingent needs of the mill, they apply the best-customized solution at a given moment in time. As a result, S.TO.R.I.’s skilled technicians know the components inside out, including their history, weak points and features, much like a doctor knows his patients.

S.TO.R.I.’s range of highly specialized services include predictive maintenance, preventive maintenance, press roll revision and complete overhauling, dynamic balancing, upgrades and non-destructive examinations (NDE). For press roll overhauling, for instance, the company provides complete service packages, including inspection, repairs and spare parts.

Production capacity exceeds 450 components per year, of which suction press rolls and blind drilled press rolls account for approximately 40%, while the rest is made up of various rolls of tissue, paper and converting machines.                                                  

S.TO.R.I.’s client base is twofold. Toscotec-associated business accounts for approximately 20% of turnover and covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and South-East Asia. Italy-based paper mills and converting companies generate approximately 80% of turnover. Essity, Smurfit Kappa, Lucart, Sofidel, Wepa, Cartiere Carrara, Industrie Cartarie Tronchetti, Industrie Cartarie Pieretti, DS Smith, Renova, The Navigator Company are among its main customers. To this second client base, Stori provides maintenance for equipment supplied by any manufacturer. As a result, S.TO.R.I.’s expertise and experience encompasses a wide range of technical solutions designed throughout the years by all the main suppliers and it equips S.TO.R.I.’s experts with the ability to devise tailor-made upgrades for its customers.