Displaying items by tag: upm

UPM has completed the sale of its closed Papierfabrik Albbruck GmbH to the German Karl Group. UPM permanently ceased graphic paper production at the mill situated in Baden-Württemberg, Germany in January 2012.

The Karl Group, experienced in developing industrial sites, is planning to establish new businesses on the premises of the former paper mill within the next 3 to 5 years in agreement with the local authorities.

“Our aim was to identify development ideas and business opportunities for the site“, says Hartmut Wurster, who represented UPM in the negotiations.  “The sale to Karl Group opens up new economic perspectives for the whole region“. Meanwhile, more than 200 former paper mill employees have found new jobs supported by the transfer company funded by UPM.

UPM leads the integration of bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production plants in 16 countries. UPM's annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com

 

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UPM is entering into exclusive negotiations with VPK Packaging Group NV and Klingele Papierwerke through their newly created joint venture company, for the sale of assets and part of the land at the UPM Stracel paper mill site in Strasbourg, France. VPK and Klingele have made an offer on the acquisition of assets from UPM. The offer is subject to finalization of its review by the bank mandated for the financing. According to the plan, UPM would retain part of the Stracel real estate in its possession for potential future production of advanced biofuels. 

VPK and Klingele plan to convert the Stracel mill into a recycled fibre-based containerboard unit, producing fluting and test-liner. The planned production of the mill would be approximately 300 000 tonnes per year. The conversion from the current magazine paper production would require a considerable investment by the two buying companies. The new converted mill would create 140 jobs. 

This transaction is subject to completion of the employee information and consultation process on the planned closure of Stracel and the social plan implemented by UPM at such occasion, which the contemplated transaction is a part of, due to the 130 job offers it is to provide to former UPM employees. This process will be launched shortly and is expected to be completed during the second half of 2012. 

On August 31, 2011 UPM announced the completion of a comprehensive review of the long term competitiveness of its publication paper mills. As a part of this review UPM announced the intent for the sale or other exit of the UPM Stracel paper mill. Since this, UPM has been working closely with the political, administrative and economic stakeholders to find the best possible solutions for the site and the employees. 

“UPM has been conducting an active search for a buyer which could engage in a serious and credible project for the industrial restructuring of the Stracel site. The plan at hand provides a good opportunity for a new future for Stracel and would create a significant number of job opportunities on the site”, says Jyrki Ovaska, President of UPM Paper Business Group. 

If UPM accepts the offer that has been submitted, the conversion project could start and the reconversion period would be approximately 12 months. Providing the plan proceeds, the converted mill would start the production in the second half of 2013.

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UPM has been awarded ‘Most Innovative Company’ at the 2012 Ethical Corporation Awards held in London. UPM was highlighted for its Eco Design approach and overall sustainable thinking.  UPM’s innovative approach has seen new products created such as the world’s first biodiesel manufactured from wood raw material.

“Our focus on producing more with less is a clear example of UPM as a forest industry company is now creating tangible results with bio composites, bio fuels and the use of non-fossil fuel energy”, comments Hartmut Wurster, Executive Vice President Technology and responsible for new businesses and environmental issues. “The integration of the bio-based and forest industries has created the Biofore vision the foundation of our corporate responsibility.”

A spokesperson for Ethical Corporation commented: “The judges commended UPM for its commitment to creating innovative materials for increased recyclability and robustness. This is traditionally a very challenging category and the judges commended the effort of all entrants to demonstrate genuine innovation in their sustainability approach.”

UPM has brought to market several innovative products recently including UPM ForMi a composite material made from pulp fibres from sustainably managed forests and clean plastic polymers. It has also launched the fuel of the future, UPM BioVerno, the first wood-based biofuel. UPM aims to be a major player in the production of advanced transportation biofuels.

The Ethical Corporation Awards (http://events.ethicalcorp.com/awards/) recognises companies and individuals who have made significant advances in the field of corporate responsibility. Previous winners have included Unilever, L’Oreal and the Rainforest Alliance. UPM was shortlisted alongside Acelor Mittal, McDonalds Europe and CottonConnect.

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The first Rio Earth Summit in 1992 challenged business to follow a more sustainable path; to create more value using less raw materials and with less environmental impact. UPM picked up that gauntlet and today our paper is more than it used to be. Our Economist case study shows why.

“Now, 20 years on from Rio, we decided to look back and ask ourselves the question just how much have we achieved in that time,” says Jyrki Ovaska, President of UPM Paper.

UPM AR_2010_optUPM chose The Economist, an internationally renowned news and business publication, as a real life example to illustrate the progress. The Economist has, almost exclusively, been produced on UPM paper for those 20 years.

The study showed that in the production of paper used for The Economist 90 percent less fossil carbon emissions are now released, 35 percent less water is used and the amount of production waste to landfill has declined by an incredible 90 percent compared to 1992. These impressive results are complemented by the share of PEFC certified fibre used in that paper rising from zero to 100 percent and the producing mills being awarded the EU Ecolabel in 2007.

“Using this example allowed us to paint an accurate picture of how much the environmental footprint of the paper used for that particular publication has changed since the first Rio Earth Summit. We even surprised ourselves with the impressive results,” Päivi Salpakivi-Salomaa, UPM’s Vice President, Environment continues.

To achieve this dramatic improvement the company has made significant investments such as new waste water treatment facilities and state-of-the-art biomass based renewable energy plants. All this means more efficient paper production, with less energy, less water, less waste, and with lower carbon footprint.

“The results of The Economist case study show how much can be achieved when a company embeds sustainable development at the very heart of its business. In our paper business it’s confirmed by UPM achieving the EU Ecolabel for almost its entire product range. Our paper truly sets the environmental benchmark,” underlines Ovaska.

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UPM’s paper website “upmpaper.com” is a one-stop-shop for all paper related topics. Now the versatile content, including the Online Paper Catalogue, is available also in the German and French languages:

“We are very happy to introduce the upmpaper.com website to our German and French speaking audiences," says Laura Kuusinen, Digital Communications Manager at UPM Paper Business Group.

“On the website the visitors can, for example, become familiar with the latest paper related news, access the Online Paper Catalogue and the broad selection of UPM services, such as Technical, Environmental and Training services. Moreover, upmpaper.com serves as a gateway to our renewed UPM Customer Online extranet," continues Kuusinen.

Mobile Paper Catalogue 0.1 complements UPM’s catalogue family

In addition to the printed as well as renewed Online Paper Catalogue, UPM Paper has taken the first step to enter into the constantly evolving mobile world by launching the 0.1 version of the Mobile Paper Catalogue – http://m.upmpaper.com

The Mobile Paper Catalogue is currently available in English.

“We will both test the technical functionality of the mobile catalogue and collect feedback from the users. Based on the feedback we will specify functionalities for the next version to serve our customers even better than we do today,” concludes Kuusinen.

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Billerud Finland Oy's acquisition of UPM's packaging paper operations at Pietarsaari and Tervasaari is now completed. Billerud Finland Oy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Billerud AB. The purchase price is around EUR 130 million.

The acquired operations will be consolidated as of 1 June 2012, and will be included in the Packaging & Speciality Paper business area.

In the January–June 2012 interim report, sales of the Billerud Group's market pulp will continue to be reported as a separate business area, that is Market Pulp. As of 1 July 2012, market pulp sales will not be reported separately but will be included in the Packaging and Speciality Paper business area.

Financial pro forma information will be published in the January–June 2012 interim report.

In 2011, the acquired operations' sales amounted to approximately EUR 220 million, and EBITDA was approximately EUR 18 million (pro forma). Annual depreciation is estimated to be approximately MEUR 6.5.

The transaction is financed through half cash and cash equivalents, half through raising loans within existing credit frameworks. The impact of the acquisition on Billerud's net debt/equity ratio will be +24 percentage points.

The acquisition has been described previously in a press release dated 1 February 2012 and 22 May 2012.

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Pöyry's Energy business group has been awarded an engineering contract by UPM for the Schongau mill site in Germany. The order has been booked in the first quarter order book and the parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the assignment.

The contract includes detail engineering for the Balance of Plant (BoP) and the overall plant integration of the main supply packages. The scope of work also comprises technical assistance to the UPM project team in purchasing the main machinery consisting of a gas turbine, heat recovery boiler and steam turbine.

The energy-efficient combined cycle power plant (CCPP) will replace the old plant facility which has operated more than 40 years. With this project UPM continues to invest in efficient energy generation to significantly reduce energy costs as well as to secure the energy supply. The total investment is about EUR 85 million.

Pöyry has extensive experience in building similar resource-efficient energy solutions. Pöyry's part of the project started in March 2012, and commissioning of the total plant is planned for the end of 2014.


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UPM and Karl Unternehmensgruppe, Innernzell, Germany have reached an agreement on the sale of the Papierfabrik Albbruck GmbH. The closing of the deal is planned to be effective by the beginning of August 2012. The contract parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the transaction.

UPM closed the unprofitable Albbruck paper mill in Baden-Württemberg, Germany in January 2012 and permanently ceased graphic paper production at the site. Since then UPM has actively participated in round table discussions about the possible future use of the mill premises.

“The aim of the forum was to find development ideas and business opportunities for the site. This is now possible by selling the mill to the Karl Unternehmensgruppe“, explains Hartmut Wurster, Executive Vice President, UPM. “We are glad to have found a solid partner in Karl Unternehmensgruppe, which already has experience in the field of re-allocation of industrial companies. This provides new opportunities to the economy of the whole region,” says Wurster.

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The requisite regulatory authorities have approved Billerud Finland Oy's acquisition of UPM's packaging paper operations at Pietarsaari and Tervasaari. Billerud Finland Oy is a wholly owned subsidiary of Billerud AB. The purchase price is around EUR 130 million.

“The acquisition strengthens our offering in packaging paper and provides us with a strong platform for the further development of smarter packaging solutions. Also, the acquisition sharply reduces our pulp exposure as we will purchase an annual pulp volume corresponding to around 85% of Billerud's present pulp sales volume. We also reduce our currency exposure,” says Per Lindberg, President and CEO of Billerud.

The transaction involves Billerud taking over one paper machine at Pietarsaari and one at Tervasaari, both in Finland. In 2011, sales amounted to around EUR 220 million (SEK 2 billion). Manufactured products are various packaging papers (sack/kraft paper) with extensive areas of use in the food, retail, construction and other industries.

Completion of the acquisition is expected to take place during the second quarter of 2012.

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Thursday, 17 May 2012 09:50

EU Ecolabel awarded to UPM Plattling papers

All UPM paper products produced at UPM Plattling mill in Germany have now been granted the EU Ecolabel.

Reels and sheets supplied by the mill complement the comprehensive range of UPM paper products already carrying the EU Ecolabel which is geographically the most extensive eco-label available. The label guarantees that paper meets strict environmental criteria concerning air and water emissions as well as energy and chemical consumption. In addition, the origin of all wood fibre must be known. 

"The EU Ecolabel is a proof of our products’ excellent overall environmental performance and thus low environmental impact,” says Päivi Rissanen, UPM's Environmental Director for Paper Business Group.

To date almost all UPM copy and graphic papers produced in Europe have been awarded the EU Ecolabel and the company is a clear industry leader with almost 200 paper grades from 15 paper mills approved under the EU Ecolabel scheme. All in all about 8 million tonnes of UPM paper will be able to carry the EU Ecolabel award by end of 2012.

Supported by the European Commission and all EU member states the Ecolabel offers guidance to consumers and purchasers, who wish to be sure of buying products with superior environmental performance.

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