MEXICO
SCA orders complete tissue line from Metso

Metso is to supply a complete tissue production line to SCA Mexico. The line includes an Advantage DCT 200TS tissue machine and will be installed at a greenfield tissue mill in Ciudad Sahagún, Hidalgo State, close to Mexico City. Startup is planned for the fourth quarter of 2010. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

Metso's scope of delivery will comprise one complete tissue production line including a deinking plant, effluent plant, stock preparation system and an Advantage DCT 200TS tissue machine. The tissue machine will be equipped with an OptiFlo headbox, Metso Yankee cylinder, Advantage AirCap hood, Advantage WetDust dust system, Advantage Run sheet transfer system and an Advantage SoftReel reel.

The two-loop deinking line will be equipped with an OptiSlush Drum Pulper, OptiCell flotation technology, GapWasher washing technology and dispersing and bleaching equipment.

Furthermore the delivery includes an extensive automation package with metsoDNA machine and process controls, PaperIQ Plus scanner and quality controls. The scope of supply also comprises all other auxiliary equipment and systems needed for the mill. Engineering, transport, installation, training, start-up and commissioning are also included in the delivery.

With a width of 5.5 m and an operating speed of 2,000 m/min, the new line will produce 60,000 tons a year of high-quality facial, toilet and towel grades. Raw material for the new lines will be recycled paper.

USA
von Drehle starts up new line in Maiden, SC

The von Drehle Corporation has successfully completed the start-up of its new high-speed, multi-fold towel line at its converting facility in Maiden, North Carolina.

This state-of-the-art automated line is capable of producing more than 100,000 cases per month of 100% recycled white and natural multi-fold hand towels. The 22,000 m2 Maiden facility also houses five other production lines including a high-speed automated towel and jumbo roll tissue (JRT) line. A new high-speed, automated tissue line is scheduled for start-up early in 2009. Once completed, the Maiden facility will be capable of producing over 4 million cases/yr of recycled towel and tissue.

The von Drehle Corporation is one of the fastest growing manufacturers of quality towel and tissue products in the USA with an emphasis on 100% recycled products.

SCA closes Alsip plant in Illinois

On 8 December SCA stopped production at its Alsip tissue mill in Illinois, USA. It was expected to complete the mill closure by 31 December. The start up of a new paper machine in Barton, Alabama, recently balanced the regional paper supply for SCA Tissue North America.

"Our strategy is to create strong, integrated regional operational sites - where paper making, converting, warehousing and shipping are concentrated on one site or in close proximity. Alsip was the only SCA Tissue site that did not meet this standard," said Don Lewis, president of SCA Tissue North America. "Integrated facilities provide the most efficient and effective operational set-up for a company of SCA's size and scope and enable us to provide customers with the highest quality products and service excellence," Lewis continued.

P&G provides charmin restrooms at new year

BRAZIL
Mili inaugurates new mill in MaceiÓ

Brazilian tissue producer Mili started up a new mill in the Luiz Cavalcante Industrial District, in Maceió, Alagoas state, northeast Brazil, on 28 November. The company will produce toilet paper at the new plant.

Mili also has a distribution center at the same site, which concentrates the company's whole product mix: toilet paper, towels and napkins, as well as disposable diapers and hygienic absorbents.

The company hired 40 people to work in the new Maceió facility and plans to further invest in the plant if sales really grow in the region.

Mili is also investing Real 80 million in a new tissue paper machine at its Três Barras mill, which will be installed by Voith Paper during the first half of 2009. News from RISI (www.risiinfo.com)

Ipel orders new tissue machine from Hergen

Last October Ipel (Ipel Indaial Papel e Embalagem Ltda) signed a contract with Brazilian paper machine supplier Hergen Paper Machinery for the supply of a new tissue machine for its new sanitary paper line.

Ipel is a traditional manufacturer of towel paper. The company has three tissue machines, the last of which it chased from Hergen and started in 2006, with a production of 70 tons/day and a 2.77 m trim width.

The new machine will be a crescent former with a 16 ft modern steel yankee with a ribbed inner surface. Hergen will also supply the yankee hood which will be steam fired for the first stage of the machine reaching 84 tons/day at 18 g/m2. For the second stage of the machine the hood will be gas fired reaching a production of 125 tons/day at 18 g/m2. The machine design speed will be 2000 m/min with a trim width of 2.77 m. The new machine will be dedicated to produce high quality sanitary tissue with a very competitive cost per ton for the Brazilian market, thanks to Hergen's design features and the customer's energy matrix.