Europe
RUSSIA
Andritz supplies tissue machine to LLC Pulp Invest
Andritz is supplying a PrimeLine Compact II tissue machine to LLC Pulp Invest in Russia. It has a design speed of 1,700 m/min and a width of 2.80m, and start up is scheduled for the end of 2012.
Andritz will supply a complete stock preparation plant for virgin fiber, including a high-precision PrimeDry Steel Yankee dryer which provides higher drying rates than conventional cast cylinders.
LLC Pulp Invest is based in Kazan, Russia, and now produces tissue paper starting at a weight of 14 gsm, two and three-layed toilet paper, paper napkins and nasal handkerchiefs. There are 250 staff at the factory, and the site annually produces some 30,000 tonnes of commodity paper.
SWEDEN
Swedish paper workers demand new collective agreement
Swedish paper workers’ union Pappers has put forward its demands for a new collective agreement that could see a general wage increase of 3.5%.
The union has handed over the list, that could also mean a minimum of SEK860 per person per month, to the employers’ representative, the Swedish Forest Industries Federation (SFIF).
The union is seeking a one-year agreement, and Christer Larsson, research director at Pappers, said that Swedish tissue companies concerned by the negotiations include SCA, Metsä tissue, Ahlstrom, Swedish Tissue, Bamboo and Rexcell.
He told TW: “It is too early to say what the impact on different companies will be and we do not know the outcome of the negotiations.
“What we have seen in the last 10 years is that the labour costs for each company, as a percentage of their total costs, are rather stable despite increasing wages. The reason is that the number of employees are decreasing each year through rationalisations.”
The union has also suggested investigating the possibility of lowering the retirement age for workers in its sector.
The parties aim to reach an agreement at the end of November, and any changes will be implemented from 1 February 2012. There have not been any strikes at the tissue mills concerned by the negotiations. There had been no further developments at the time of going to press.
ITALY
Paper Converting Machine Company Italia boosts capacity
Tissue converting equipment manufacturer Paper Converting Machine Company Italia has increased its capacity in Lucca.
The company is based in Diecimo where it has two main buildings covering a total surface of 4500 m2. The new plants are located in Socciglia and will add 6400 m2 to the company’s production area.
Sergio Casella, managing director of PCMC Italia, said: “This marks a very important step forward for our company, a confirmation of a new phase of strong growth, energy and commitments.”
PCMC’s new plants in Lucca, Italy
The new workshop will be mainly dedicated to the assembly of the larger and more complex lines.
Casella added that the company has had “a brilliant 2010 and 2011 in terms of new orders volume”, about €50m in total.
It also has prospects for 2012 of about €30m of new orders.
He told TW: “We are responding to an increasing demand and also partially expanding our current offering.
“Most of our success is due to the new FORTE rewinder, which with the two new versions Ultra ( 800 mt/min ) and Value ( 600 mt/min ) is increasingly gathering market consensus.”
The company is seeing demand mainly from Europe, Latin America and China.
Casella said: “Our customers haven’t really been affected by the recession, only some projects have been delayed.
“We were mainly active in areas where the recession has had less impact, such as in China, Latin and Center America. However, we have also gained market shares in Europe, and mainly in Italy.”
ITALY
ABK Group sets up ABK Italia
ABK Group has set up a new company, ABK Italia, formerly known as Over Meccanica.
Production activities started at the plant’s facilities in Verona, Italy, on 8 August 2011.
ABK Group said the move means it has boosted its offering to the marketplace, and can now offer additional qualified and high technology equipment, especially to the tissue market.
The company confirmed that staff from Over Meccanica are now employed by ABK Italia.
ABK Group now manufactures machines and equipment for the production of all grades of paper, from tissue and writing-printing paper to newsprint and packaging grades as well as fine paper and specialty papers.
The company was unavailable to comment further at this time
TURKEY
Ak Gida San ve Tic A.S starts up Metso line
The first tissue jumbo roll produced at Ak Gida San ve Tic A.S.
Ak Gida San ve Tic A.S has started up Metso’s supplied tissue line at its site in Turkey. A complete tissue production line including a stock preparation system and an Advantage DCT 200 tissue machine was delivered.
The tissue machine is equipped with an OptiFlo II Tis headbox, a press, a Metso Yankee cylinder, an Advantage AirCap hood, an Advantage WetDust dust management system and an Advantage SoftReel L reel.
It was installed in the company’s new mill in Pamukova, in the Sakarya province. On 29 August, Ak Gida San successfully started up the machine and produced tissue for the first time in the new plant.
The tissue plant covers 170,000 m2 and the new tissue line will produce 60,000 tonnes a year of high-quality facial, handkerchief, toilet and towel grades at a speed level of 1,600 m/min to 2,000 m/min.
Ak Gida San produces some 400 different dairy products at the Pamukova facilities.
SWITZERLAND
Saber Swiss Quality Paper to idle tissue machine, slash staff by 50%
BRUSSELS, Aug. 25, 2011 (RISI) Saber Swiss Quality Paper has announced extensive restructuring measures.
The firm plans to shut down one of the two machines at its mill in Balsthal, near Basel, in the canton of Solothurn. The machine in question, TM 5, produces some 9,000 tpy of tissue.
Moreover, Saber Swiss Quality Paper intends to cut 57 of the 113 jobs at the mill and to cut the remaining staff’s salaries and wages by up to 10% in the first half of 2012.
Saber Swiss Quality Paper ascribes the restructuring plans to continued losses due to high pulp prices, the insolvency of a major customer and the appreciation of the Swiss franc. “The planned measures are inevitable to give the firm a chance of survival,” Saber Swiss Quality Paper said in a statement.
The local arm of the trade union Unia said that the firm’s lending bank imposed the restructuring measures. At present, the consultation period between the firm and the union is ongoing.
Unia said it is demanding reduced working hours instead of layoffs. Moreover, it wants Saber Swiss Quality Paper to negotiate more favorable credit terms with the bank. “The bank has to reduce the interest rate instead of the firm cutting salaries and wages,” it said.
In addition to tissue, Saber Swiss Quality Paper produces some 28,000 tpy of specialty paper at the Balsthal site. India’s Saber Group acquired the mill from Papierfabrik Horgen in 2009. (News from RISI)
