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Tissue World Americas: 36% more visitors

Tissue World Americas has been a clear success attracting almost 1,000 of the industry’s leading personnel – up 36% on 2010 figures.

The four-day event successfully held in Miami between 20-23 March attracted visitors from 73 countries.

This year, visitor attendance totaled 961, with delegates spanning the full range of industry expertise and skills, from chief executives and company owners to technicians and machine operators.

Show floor space was 17% larger and the number of exhibiting companies rose 36% to 129, compared to 2010.

The show is primarily aimed at the north and south American tissue markets, and was held under the timely theme of Boosting Performance for Better Quality, Sustainability and Profitability.

The conference sessions were very well received by the delegates, including the senior management panel on Sustainability, the Supply and Demand outlook session, the in-depth Technical Solutions Sessions and the new Yankee Dryer Reliability Workshop.

Attendance at the conference sessions rose sharply by 48% to 415 total participants.

Attendees at the show included many of the established players in the tissue market as well as a large number of newcomers to the industry.

As is typical for the event in Miami, the show did not feel overly crowded but instead was extremely focused and business-like, with everyone who walked in the door being truly targeted on the tissue industry.

Visitors came mainly from the USA and Canada, accounting for 70%, and Latin America at 22%, with the remaining 8% from the rest of the world.

There was a noticeable increase in the number of companies from North America exhibiting at Tissue World Americas for the first time.

Ronnie Babb, senior manager, business development, KBR Power & Industrial Group, said: “I thought the show was very well attended and we had several clients visit our booth that we will have an opportunity to work with in the near future.

“Two of the main themes of the show, reliability and sustainability, were ones that I particularly enjoyed. The whole show was good and had a diverse segment of clients in our industry well represented. It was also a great venue to reach out to a lot of clients.”

Esko Uutela, principal, tissue, RISI, said: “The conference was a success with possibly the highest ever number of conference delegates. The event attracted several top-level people to participate, including chief executives of tissue suppliers, not only from North America but also from other regions, which shows the importance of Tissue World events.

“The sustainability theme was well chosen as it is a hot topic in North America today: raw material sourcing, certification and social responsibility are all issues to which companies need to put more attention.”

Thomas Newton, vice president operations at Erving Paper Mills, described the show as “very worthwhile”. “The technically oriented presentations were particularly interesting as technical topics are my primary interest. There were two main themes in the presentations – energy efficiency in the pressing and drying sections of paper machines, and also a focus on sustainability.

“The energy efficiency topics, especially during the Tuesday Yankee workshop presentations, reinforce the sustainability theme as well.”

José Vásquez, manager at CP Converting, said those that attended the show met his needs. He added that there was a good mix of large and small manufacturers of machinery.

The next Tissue World Americas event will be held in Miami Beach on March 18-21, 2014. Also upcoming is Tissue World Asia in Shanghai, China, on 14-16 November this year.

For more information about any of the Tissue World events, please visit http://www.tissueworld.com/

Barcelona next year – The BIG ONE!The biggest news of all is the move of Tissue World – the BIG ONE. The largest and original Tissue World event, which started in Europe in 1993 and has traditionally been held in Nice, France, is moving to Barcelona, Spain, for 2013.

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Sustainability and quality dominate TW Americas conference sessions

TW takes a snapshop of some of the keynote speakers

Kimberly-Clark (K-C) has posted full year 2011 operating profits of $2,442m – a decline of 12% compared to $2,773m in 2010.

Steps towards the sustainable value chain for tomorrow

“The historical sustainability focus of manufacturing companies, optimising operational footprints and minimising environmental impacts, is evolving to one of ensuring sustainability across the entire supply chain – from raw material to shelf. Our scope needs to expand to consider our business’s value chain in a way that we become part of the solutions addressing the greater global challenges affecting us and our stakeholders. This will need to be demonstrated under the heightened transparency expected by our consumers and customers. We should expect that these trends will only be exacerbated in the world of 2050, inhabited by nine billion consumers, where sustainable production and consumption is no longer nice to have but rather a requirement.”

Global value chain challenges: Workplace rights – expended supply chain Climate change – RM supply disruption Tissue fibre availability and responsible sourcing Energy cost increases Increasing regulation Competition for water Alternative products – innovation Global sourcing

Sustainability steps: Establish a vision: Strategise sustainability – 10+ years. Consider scenario planning for future projects.

Collaborate with value chain: Raw material to shelf. LCA mindset. Collaborate to a sustainable future.

Prepare for transparency: Sustainability reporting/Global Reporting Initiative. Consumer and customers empowered. Global economy – highest standards prevail.

Greenpeace: No reason to be afraid, necessarily

Greenpeace claims that Indonesia’s rainforests and carbon-rich peatlands are being destroyed to make disposable consumer products, including toilet paper and packaging.

Skar says: “NGOs are campaigning to find solutions. We invite the tissue industry to join this effort, if not for the environmental values, for the sake of the bottom line. Consumers increasingly demonstrate an interest in sustainability.

“Sustainability is here to stay. It can be good for business and change is inevitable.”

Market developments and trends in North and South America

North America

“The North American tissue market is experiencing a new investment boom. The main driver seems to be the need for ultra and premium grade tissue, partly reflecting major retailers’ target to upgrade their private label offerings closer to the main brands in quality, with a clear trend toward higher quality in the AfH sector as well. Market growth has flattened, particularly in terms of weight as the product light-weighting trend continues. Competition does not show any signs of lessening and a growing number of small, independent converters have forged ahead because of niche products, flexible service and sub-contracting orders from big players. No return to high growth rates expected in the North American tissue market, with average annual growth expected to continue at 1.4% to 2021.”

Quality upgrading the dominating feature
“There is a major trend toward ultra and premium quality products in the consumer tissue sector continuing – retailers increasingly require high quality products that are similar to the leading brands.

“Three-ply toilet tissue has become a success. New structured/textured tissue making technologies have made their breakthrough with one Voith ATMOS system already working in Canada and at least three more projects sold in North America.

“Quality upgrading rapidly hitting the AfH tissue sector with the first new technology AfH PM projects announced, allowing recovered paper use so that environmental certifications are not a major problem, unlike TAD.”

Sustainability issues gaining importance
“Environmental certifications getting increasingly important in the AfH business. “Sustainability has been a prime concern by NGOs in the consumer tissue sector.”

Quality upgrading driving new investments
“New investments are needed in the consumer tissue sector as buyers target the highest quality category. Now also in the retailer label segment, successful suppliers need the capability of offering ultra quality products – this means the need to use TAD or alternative new, advanced tissue making technologies.

“At least four new TAD PMs will come on stream in 2012-2013, plus around the same number of projects involving alternative technologies, led by Voith’s ATMOS concept but not ignoring G-P’s self-developed f-TAD technology.

“The North American tissue industry is in an interesting phase, moving toward technology that decreasingly resembles that of traditional papermaking.”

South America

“In South America, tissue markets are in a very interesting and positive expansion phase. The main focus is on Brazil, with the largest population and now also the highest tissue consumption in the region. In Brazil, the recent strong growth is benefitting from the increasing purchasing power in the inland and north east regions.

“Growth in the Latin American tissue market is slightly accelerated due to expected strong growth in Brazil, with average growth set at 5.2% per annum. In 2012, some 222,000 extra tonnes are expected to come on stream, and 242,000 in 2013.”

Conclusion

“World tissue consumption is back on its normal growth track following a break due to the 2009 recession.

“Globally, the tissue business is focusing its expansion in emerging markets – China in particular, followed by Latin America. Growth in these regions will outstrip the growth in North America or western Europe.

“In north America, the new capacity already in the pipeline largely concentrates on the highest quality.

“There are good long term growth prospects for tissue in Latin America, with Brazil showing the largest expansion potential.”

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G-P accepts SCA’s binding offer: deal waits on competition authorities

SCA has said its binding offer to acquire Georgia- Pacific´s (G-P) European tissue operations has been accepted by the company.

The move follows consultations with appropriate works councils, and a sales and purchase agreement has now been signed by both parties.

In a statement, SCA said: “The process will now continue towards finalising the acquisition, including the approvals by relevant competition authorities and further local consultation processes.”

On 10 November 2011 it was announced that the Swedish paper giant SCA had launched a binding offer to acquire G-P’s European tissue business for €1.32bn.

The move includes G-P’s consumer and AfH tissue paper products, personal care businesses and manufacturing assets across Europe. Its consumer brands as well as AfH and private label products are also included.

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“TW 2013 an honour for our city” says Barcelona Mayor

The mayor of Barcelona has welcomed the tissue industry to his city for the sector’s major trade show, Tissue World 2013.

Mayor Xavier Trias told TW: “I would like to say it is an honour to host the next edition of the Tissue World, an event that will showcase advances in the tissue business.”

“Tissue World 2013 will showcase advances in the tissue business.” Barcelona’s mayor, Xavier Trias

Some 80 of the world’s leading tissue companies have already signed up to exhibit at the trade show in March 2013.

And the Mayor urged a yet greater attendance: “I really encourage you to join us in Barcelona and to take this opportunity to visit our city. We are looking forward to welcoming you.”

Businesses are continuing to sign up to claim the most advantageous spots at the ultra-modern Fira Gran Via.

The trade show is the ‘Big One’ in Tissue World’s cycle of top conferences in the US$70bn a year soft hygienic tissue paper industry, and it draws thousands of visitors from 88 countries on every continent.?

It takes place on 18-21 March, 2013, and for the first time in Barcelona, one of the world’s most dynamic cities.

Some 80 of the world’s leading tissue companies have already signed up to exhibit at the event.

There has also been a renewed interest in showcasing machinery at the event with more companies planning on bringing machinery because of Barcelona’s excellent sea, road and rail systems.

The sign ups have also shown that an increasing number of companies from different sectors are now prioritising the tissue divisions within their business, and changing their core business to tissue.