CHINA
FOOK WOO BUYS TWO METSO PMS
Metso Paper will supply two Advantage DCT 60 tissue machines to the Fook Woo Group of Hong Kong and China. Both machines will be installed in the company's paper mill in Guangdong province, China.

The first machine is scheduled to start up during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the second machine during the second quarter of 2009. The value of the order is not disclosed. The value of these types of tissue machines is €4- 8 million, depending on capacity and scope of the delivery.

Metso's delivery comprises two complete Advantage DCT 60 tissue machines including OptiFlo II TIS headbox, Metso yankee cylinder, Advantage AirCap hood, ValReel reel, mechanical drives, controls and basic mill engineering. Metso will also provide supervision of installation and start-up, and training for the operations.

The 2.85 m Advantage DCT 60 tissue machines have a design speed of 1300 m/min. The capacity of each line using recycled fiber will be 20,000 tons/yr of tissue paper for facial, toilet, napkin and towel products.

The Advantage DCT 60, representing Metso's latest technology, is an environmentally friendly DCT machine for supporting the emerging markets like China, with low energy and water consumption. It differs from other Advantage DCT versions mainly by the use of steam for the complete drying. Steam is more readily available and also a cheaper source of energy at many places in China.

Founded in 1968, Fook Woo Group is the leading recycling service provider based in Hong Kong and China. The Group operates one of the biggest waste paper sorting centers and a recycled tissue paper production factory in Huizhou, Guangdong. More than 70 % of the produced tissue is being exported to America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

METSO STRENGTHENS PRESENCE IN CHINA
A foundation-stone-laying ceremony was held at Metso Paper’s new Guangzhou service centre in Guangdong, China, on 18 December . The new greenfield service centre, which will provide advanced services to the pulp and paper industry in Southern China, will be operational in late 2008. Metso's investment in the new centre will total over €10 million.

The centre will feature a fully-equipped roll-service workshop capable of supplying rolls, roll covers and mechanical roll maintenance services for all makes and sizes of pulp and paper machinery. It will also offer a comprehensive range of spare parts and mill site services.

The establishment of the Guangzhou service centre is a natural continuation of Metso's commitment to serving the Chinese pulp and paper industry locally. In keeping with this commitment, Metso Paper has been steadily strengthening its local service operations in China.

Metso Paper opened its first service centre in the city of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province in 2001.

The Wuxi service centre has recently doubled its roll-service capacity with a new extension, which will be officially inaugurated in March 2008.

In 2003 Metso Paper established a logistics centre in Wai Gao Qiao, Shanghai, to support the timely delivery of spare parts and consumables.

The Chinese pulp and paper industry has made substantial investments in new machinery and technology over the past 10 years. Metso Paper has been involved in many of these projects and is currently the industry's leading technology supplier.

NEW NAME: METSO MILL SERVICE
Scandinavian Mill Service (SMS), owned by Metso Paper and Metso Automation, is to change its name to Metso Mill Service. Metso Mill Service supplies and develops maintenance services for the pulp and paper industry.

This name change brings the operations of SMS under the Metso brand and reflects Metso’s aim to further develop its services business. Metso Mill Service is part of the company's extensive services offering and broadening service network, which support Metso’s overall strategy of profitable growth. The name change will have no immediate effect on the daily operations of Metso Mill Service.

Metso Mill Service employs a total of 500 maintenance professionals at 10 locations in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Spain and the Czech Republic. The company has long-term maintenance agreements with Jujo Thermal Oy, Saica Group, Myllykoski Group, Nordic Paper and Mondi Packaging.

Metso Mill Service operates maintenance workshops in Gävle and Husum, Sweden, which offer large scope of maintenance services to nearby pulp and paper mills, and roll maintenance centers in Kauttua, Finland, Zaragoza, Spain, and Steti, Czech Republic that provide roll grinding and scheduled roll maintenance services to local customers.

VIETNAM VIETNAM'S SAIGON PAPER TO GO FOR BIGGER CAPACITY BOOST (News supplied by RISI) Vietnam’s Saigon Paper has altered its plans to build a new paper mill in the Dien Ngoc industrial zone, in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam. The company previously intended to install a 12,000 ton/yr machine at the site to produce industrial paper. But it has instead decided to install three PMs at the plant with a total capacity of 227,500 tonnes/yr, including one from Austria for 35,000 tons/yr of tissue. It is not clear which of these will be new and second-hand. "According to the Vietnam Paper Association, the increase in demand of industrial paper and tissue is very significant — about 20% per year. Therefore, the decision to invest in a new factory with higher capacity at this moment is opportune," the company said in a statement. The expanded scheme is set to cost some Dong 1,500 billion ($95 million). Startup has been moved from early 2008 to mid-2009. The plan to build a new mill in the northern province of Hanoi once this investment is completed is still in the pipeline. The 120,000 ton/yr facility will house a 44,000 ton/yr tissue machine and another unspecified PM. The project cost is expected to total Dong 850 billion. Saigon Paper is set to list on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange this month. The move is aimed at raising funds to help finance several investment projects. Saigon Paper was set to list on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange last month. AWARD AND PENALTY RECEIVED Saigon Paper has received the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) Business Award 2007 for its contribution to the economic development and prosperity of the region. The company was among 12 businesses to be honoured on 18 November at the ASEAN Investment and Business Summit in Singapore. Around the same time, however, Vietnam’s State Securities Commission punished the company for securities violations, according to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA). Saigon Paper was apparently fined Dong 70 million on 6 November for publicising false information to sway investors. But the VNA did not give further details.

JAPAN
JAPAN’S MEIJI PAPER STREAMLINES OPERATIONS (News supplied by RISI)
Meiji Paper has shut down two tissue machines with a combined capacity of 3,000 tons/yr at its Denpo mill in Fuji City, Japan.

The firm has also overhauled the tissue PM1 at its Takaoka facility in Fuji, boosting its capacity from 8,800 tons/yr to 12,400 tons/yr. The company's parent Tokushu Tokai Holdings intends to consolidate production at Meiji Paper's Chuo mill and at another subsidiary, Tokai Pulp's Shimada plant by way of a scrap and build scheme by 2010. Further details remain to be hammered out, though.

Several months ago Tokushu Tokai Holdings formed an alliance with Japanese giant Oji Paper to consolidate its specialty paper production. Oji bought 4 million shares, or 2.4%, of Tokushu Tokai for some ¥'b41.2 billion, while Tokushu Tokai purchased 1.5 million shares, or 0.1%, of Oji for around ¥900 million.

The duo are now streamlining their operations, which includes the above changes made by Meiji Paper. Meanwhile, Oji's subsidiary Oji Specialty Paper will scrap five old, small machines with a combined capacity of 70,000 tons/yr by July 2009.

These include two cartonboard PMs at its Dai-ichi plant in Fuji city, Shizuoka prefecture, and three specialty paper machines at its Shizuoka mill, also in Fuji. But Oji is also installing a 10,000 ton/yr specialty paper machine at its Fuji facility in Fuji. Startup is slated for February next year.

CRECIA AND KC RENEW LICENCE
Nippon Paper Crecia, Nippon Paper Group's household paper business subsidiary, and Kimberly-Clark Corporation have renewed their license agreements so as to strengthen their strategic alliance, according to a statement from Nippon Paper.

In this renewal, Crecia has newly obtained a right in Japan to deal with KC's technologically advanced products for professional safety, in addition to existing consumer tissue products (Kleenex®, Scottie®, etc.) and personal care products.

Demand for household paper in Asia is expected to increase greatly as economic growth improves the sanitary consciousness of consumers there, says Nippon. Crecia would collaborate with KC for its business expansion in that market, discussing the possibility to provide its products made in Japan to KC's business hubs in Asia.

Crecia is committed to extend Nippon Paper Group's household paper business leveraging the alliance with KC, Nippon concludes.