The launch edition of Tissue World Istanbul has set the standard for the tissue industry’s expansion into one of the world’s great regions for potential development

 

The two-day event attracted 306 key tissue professionals from across Turkey, Western and Eastern Europe, Russia, the CIS, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Delegates, speakers, exhibiting sponsor staff, VIPs and media personnel attended the latest edition to the expanding Tissue World portfolio between 25-26 September at the WOW Convention Center in Istanbul.

 

Tissue World Istanbul 2014 attracts 306 key tissue professionals to inaugural event

The outstanding success of Tissue World Istanbul could not have had a more impressive ambassador for the nation’s burgeoning industry than Erdal Sükan, the president of the Turkish Pulp and Paper Industry Foundation, to cut the metaphorical tape to get the conference underway.

Some 306 key tissue professionals attended the two-day event, including 175 participants from Turkey, 16 from Germany, 28 from Italy, 11 from the United Kingdom, 13 from the USA and eight from the United Arab Emirates.

Clockwise from left: the conference crowd with tissue professionals from countries including Turkey, Germany, UAE, the Middle East, Italy; Professor Soli Özel address the crowd; the inaugural Tissue World Istanbul.
Clockwise from left: the conference crowd with tissue professionals from countries including Turkey, Germany, UAE, the Middle East, Italy; Professor Soli Özel address the crowd; the inaugural Tissue World Istanbul.

The event also featured 15 exhibiting sponsors and social functions.

Sükan highlighted the growing demand for tissue products in Turkey, which has reached 600,000 tonnes with a yearly average growth of 11% in the last five years. With a population of 77 million, Turkey’s per capita consumption is still in the five kg level and Sükan emphasised the market would offer an attractive investment opportunity if it reaches an average consumption of 15kg. He added the Turkish tissue industry offers significant opportunities for both national and international manufacturers.

Additional conference topics looked at the outlook for the tissue sector in Turkey, Russia, the CIS, the Middle East and Africa, and how best the industry should leverage their dynamics.

Tissue consumer and distribution trends as well as the latest technical developments were also discussed.

 

Talks includedTWM2014NovDec_TWI3

After the dreams and catastrophes are over: Turkey and its neighbourhood in the next decade by Professor Soli Özel, Kadir Has University;

Economic recovery in the US and Europe: risks and uncertainties in the Middle East and Russia by Andrea Boltho, emeritus fellow, Magdalen College, University of Oxford;

Outlook for the tissue business in the near and Middle East region by Esko Uutela, principal, tissue, RISI;

Case study: multiply toilet tissue products: launch, production technology and consumer insight by Fatoş Başbuğ, tissue category R&D manager, Hayat Kimya;

“Easy to build, hard to keep running! The problem of HR in the tissue business in the MENA region” by Orhan Öğücü, chairman, Lila Kağıt.

In the past eight years, tissue capacity in Turkey has more than doubled and the country is now the sixth largest towel and tissue producer in the European region.

 

Its strong market position is a result of a sustained period of growth beginning back in 2005.

As a country, Turkey is already ranked 17th in the world and by 2020 it will have emerged as one of the top 10 economies in the world.

Not only is the country economically viable but it is a strategically crucial one, enjoying one of the strongest geo-locations in Eurasia.

[box] Tissue World Istanbul 2016 will feature a trade show and conference and will take place from 27 – 29 September 2016 at the Istanbul Congress Center (ICC).[/box]

 The long and winding road to Middle East stability: what part can Turkey play?

 

Professor Soli Özel, Kadir Has University, Turkey

After the dreams and catastrophes are over: Turkey and its neighbourhood in the next decade

An outline of the general political and strategic developments of the regions that surround Turkey as well as how the country’s own ambitions have been thwarted by miscalculations, surprises, foul play and shifting sands.

The opportunities for Turkey in the next decade were also discussed, concentrating on energy and its economic vitality, and the way the economy can prove to be an integrating factor in the regions that sooner or later will stop their wars and start rebuilding.

It highlighted:

• Liberalised and more assertively nationalistic politics in Arab countries, coupled with greater self-reliance and autonomy in their management of regional affairs;

• A major reduction in the ability of outsiders — notably, the United States — to shape trends and events in West Asia and North Africa;

• The further isolation of Israel;

• The revival of Cairo, Baghdad, and Damascus as leading actors in the affairs of the Arab East—rejoining Riyadh in that role;

• A concomitant setback for recent Iranian gains in prestige and influence in a revivified Arab world;

• Opportunities for Turkey to strengthen its newly prominent   regional leadership;

• Accelerated development of Arab ties to East and South Asia (and possibly to Russia) to offset and balance past dependence on the United States, Britain, and France;

• The displacement of the jihadi threat to Arab societies as milder forms of Islamism assume a larger role in governance; Russia and the end of acquiescence to the West

• The annexation of Crimea, continuing trouble in Ukraine

• Turkey’s delicate balance with Russia

• Great economic partner, source of 2 million tourists, flow of money

• Turkey’s rising strategic value, stock market windfall

 

The changing composition of Turkish trade

• MENA in Turkish exports: 13% in 2000, 34% in 2012, down to 30% in 2013

• The dream of an economically integrated region

• Iraq as the second largest export market

• 80% of goods sold in KRG are Turkish; 55% of registered foreign companies are Turkish; pipelines – gas and oil

 

Andrea Boltho, emeritus fellow, Magdalen College, University of Oxford, UK

Economic recovery in the US and Europe: risks and uncertainties in the Middle East and Russia

The US economic recovery is strengthening; Europe’s economy is still very fragile, with deficits, debts and deflation threatening most countries in the Eurozone.

The outlook for Russia and the Middle East, modest at best even before recent events, has now been further clouded by mounting geo-political risks.

The US and Europe: There is light at the end of the tunnel. A recovery is in sight. However, the recovery is losing steam … at least in Europe

Four clouds on the horizon:

The Russian-Ukrainian crisis

The likely rise in US interest rates

The risk of deflation

The burden of private and public debt

 

Why deflation is very dangerous:

i) Purchases are postponed in expectation of lower prices

ii) Since nominal interest rates can hardly fall below zero, real interest rates will not only be positive, but could reach high levels

iii) The real burden of debt increases (as revenues/incomes decline but debt repayments are fixed) leading to defaults and bankruptcies

 

The United States; back to steady growth

The Eurozone; struggling to avoid stagnation

Russia; a similar conclusion, even if the problems are different

Turkey; going through a difficult patch, but the potential for future rapid growth is still there

 

 

Esko Uutela, principal – tissue, RISI, Germany

Outlook for the tissue business in the near and Middle East region

Tissue consumption has grown strongly in the Middle East region and previous long-term (20 years) development shows an average growth rate of 9-10% per year, with only some slowdown in the most recent years.

Turkey is the largest market and it has developed as a major global tissue exporter while the domestic market, albeit grown, cannot absorb all the expansions.

Companies also prefer to get export revenues to be able to finance their foreign currency investments.

Iran seems to be in the take-off phase and has recorded very high growth with increased domestic supply. Political turmoil in a few countries, particularly Syria, but also still partly in Iraq, shadows tissue businesses in these countries. The region has a lot of new investments in the pipeline, and some more are on the drawing board.

The competitive situation is tight and based on the current supply-demand outlook, no relief in the situation can be expected the next three to four years.

 

Tissue consumption in the MENA region by main country, 2013:

Turkey – 26.4%, S. Arabia – 13.9%, Iran – 10.2%, Israel – 9%, Egypt – 7.7%, UAE – 5.3%, Lebanon – 3.5%, Morocco – 3.3%, Iraq –  2.9%, Kuwait – 2.6%, Syria – 2.6%, Algeria – 2%, Jordan – 2%, all others – 8.5%

Total consumption: 1.36 million tonnes

Recent tissue market growth in the MENA region: political turbulences have taken their toll in the regional tissue market expansion

Average growth 8.9% per annum

Between 2006 – 2009 there was a strong expansion phase

2010 – 2013: crises brake growth

 

Volume Growth of Tissue Consumption in the MENA Region by Main Country, 2003-2013

Turkey’s tissue consumption volume growth has been the largest by volume in the past 10 years:

Turkey – 240,000tpy

Iran – 100,000tpy

Saudi Arabia – 100,000tpy

Egypt – 60,000tpy

Israel – 40,000tpy

 

Tissue market expansion and tissue consumption in the MENA region will continue and regional consumption will almost double in the next 10 years

Iraq, Iran and Turkey are expected to have the highest relative growth rates, provided political turmoil will not sharpen. Average regional growth – 6.9% per annum

 

Expected volume growth of tissue consumption 2013-2023

Turkey’s tissue consumption volume growth has been the largest by volume in the past 10 years:

Turkey – 240,000tpy

Iran – 100,000tpy

Saudi Arabia – 100,000tpy

Egypt – 60,000tpy

Israel – 40,000tpy

 

Tissue market expansion and tissue consumption in the MENA region will continue and regional consumption will almost double in the next 10 years

Iraq, Iran and Turkey are expected to have the highest relative growth rates, provided political turmoil will not sharpen. Average regional growth – 6.9% per annum

 

Expected volume growth of tissue consumption 2013-2023

Volume growth dominated by Turkey (38% of regional growth at nearly 400 thousand tonnes)

Tissue business in Iran is in a strong take-off phase (160 thousand tonnes)

Total expected regional growth 1.25 million tonnes

 

Capacity Shares of the Main Suppliers in the MENA Region, 2014 (September)

Relatively fragmented industry: top 10 players account for 57% of capacity

Hayat Kimya – 11%; Nuqul – 8%; Lila Kagit – 7%; Saudi Paper – 7%; K-C – 5%; Ipek Kagit – 5%; Indevco – 4%; AK Uretim Pazarlama – 4%; ADNPM – 3%; Oriental – 3%; All others – 43%

Total capacity – 1.9m tonnes

 [box]Conclusions:

• The MENA region has been a major growth base for the global tissue industry expansion in recent years but political turmoil has cut the growth in certain countries in the past few years.

• Strong demand growth can be expected to continue despite the threat of serious conflicts and civil war situation in Syria/ Iraq and continuing sanctions against Iran. New regime in Egypt has ordered heavy energy price increases and new financial regulations. No good news for tissue companies operating there and the export market.

• A new investment peak is coming in 2015-2016 and there are limited possibilities to avoid regional overcapacity, project delays could help only marginally. Exports to other regions have limited chances to grow sufficiently to relieve the situation because of the existing tight international competition by Asian suppliers.

• The long-term outlook for the region is good as there is still a lot of growth potential, but the current outlook is less encouraging for new investments. [/box]

 

Max Blatt, director, Pöyry Management Consulting, Sweden

Big improvements without big spending

 

“Many tissue companies are disappointed with high energy (and also water) consumption rates of their machinery. Our findings show that while machine suppliers indicate the energy efficiency rates of their equipment, it’s not always common for operators to achieve them. The priority for most companies is to spend money on additional capital.

However, the faster and more effective path to improvement can be achieved through addressing controllable gaps in operating effectiveness – which if closed, represent substantial financial improvements.

Energy is just one of the areas where Pöyry’s targets to improve the performance and results of tissue operations. Opportunities can also exist within productivity, yield, quality, material costs, logistics, cost controls or distribution.

“These opportunities can be captured and performance improvement realised through improvements in operations management. The higher performers achieve better profitability and Pöyry has deep experience in improving operations management across North America, Europe and also in the MENA area.”

 

Fatoş Başbuğ, tissue category R&D manager, Hayat Kimya, Turkey

Case study: multiply toilet tissue products: launch, production technology and consumer insight

“Toilet tissue paper products require a balance of several effects including strength, bulk and softness. Of these three parameters, the strength of the sheet and its corresponding softness and bulk are interrelated.

“While converting the base tissue with the application of embossing the bulk and softness gathered but at the same time the strength decreases. In countries where toilet tissue is used as wet, strength is quite important parameter for the consumer technical insight.

“The journey of six ply toilet tissue launch started with the consumer understanding model. The first step is to analyse the consumer technical insight. In order to understand the consumer needs and to define the most appropriate product design. The second step is to design the technology to produce multi-ply product.

“With the conventional methods three and four ply production is possible. On the other hand the conventional production methods cannot meet the desired quality parameters of six ply products. Especially the ply bonding is poor with conventional technology.

“As a result of this, B-Side Technology was developed. With the B-Side technology special lamination method is applied on the product and ply bonding is ensured. As an advantage of technology both sides of the tissue is decorated.

“To summarise, the journey starts with understanding the consumer needs. The consumer needs show that soft and bulk tissue with high strength values are always a preference for the consumer. The trail results indicate that multi-ply products compensate the consumer needs. To launch an innovative product on the market, the Six Ply Toilet Tissue Project Implementation was selected. Six ply toilet tissue is not just an innovative product but it also offers many kinds of benefits to the consumer like softness, bulky sheet and high strength. In addition to those properties, six ply toilet tissue launch supported by the claim of “one sheet is enough”.

“Instead of three sheets of standard toilet tissue, one sheet of six ply is enough with its larger sheet size and enhanced strength and absorbency properties.”

 

Hayat Marketing’s Eda Dereli
Hayat Marketing’s Eda Dereli

 

Orhan Öğücü, chairman, Lila Kağıt, Turkey

Easy to build, hard to keep running! The problem of HR in the tissue business in the MENA region

“Everybody is aware of the rapid growth of MENA region in tissue consumption and production. For example, built capacity in Turkey will increase from somewhere 200.000 tonnes in 2006 to over one million tonnes by 2016. This means 500% growth in 10 years. We see that other markets in MENA region are also growing at a pace, competing with China.

“What about the personnel? Can we educate, train and provide opportunities to “build” experts, at the same pace? How many years of experience does it take for an operator to run a tissue machine at the highest speed, with the right techniques, calculation and optimised consumption of resources? How many years does it take for a mechanics technician to be able to solve major problems, or to learn “true” preventive maintenance?

“Without a doubt, in an open and liberalised world with great opportunities to reach credit capital, and machinery, human capital (intellectual capital) is the most critical asset in an organisation.

“The issue we face are: The past of paper making in Turkey, how people were trained by the state owned company “SEKA”; the current problem of not having enough talented, trained and dedicated personnel and experts in this sector; the costs of this situation is bringing to the companies; and finally the alternate solutions.

“With the ideal solution of the formation of an education centre in tissue business, a win-win situation for both young potential personnel, tissue producing and converting companies and machine and material suppliers can be created. This would be a major solution to the problem at lowest cost possible, and an environment for R&D in our region would not be a dream.”

 

Ian Egerton, applications specialist tissue and towel, Solenis UK

Yankee coatings: it’s all in the mix

“Spraying synthetic coatings onto a Yankee cylinder has only been common practice for the last fifty years. During that time, many papers have been authored describing the chemistry of the adhesive and what it can achieve.

“There are a number of different adhesive chemistries available to the tissue maker, each one often specific to their machine, however, little attention has been paid to the full chemical coating package applied to the cylinder. Often a complex mixture of adhesive, release, modifier and phosphate is applied with little understanding of the impact of each component and how the products react with each other.

“This paper will provide a better understanding of how the components work together to provide a system suitable for each machine, which as we know are all different and react in their own individual way. As such no single chemical program is suitable for all machine types and configurations.”

 

 

Vladimir Grigoriev, senior applications specialist, Kemira Chemicals, Germany

New strength technology: opportunities for cost savings and machine productivity

“The art of tissue making requires finding the right balance between key product characteristics such as strength, handfeel softness and dispersibility in water. The “right” characteristics not only differentiate tissue products in the market but also help optimise production efficiency.

“One of the most critical areas of optimization is the sheet strength, which is achieved via appropriate selection of fibres, refining level and dry and wet strength aids. These are associated with a high cost and various limitations.

“Kemira has recently developed the Fennobond 3300E strength aid that increases flexibility of the tissuemaking process, improves sheet quality and allows for optimization of the production cost. The Fennobond 3300E resin is designed to provide both dry and wet strength.

“It is an effective “no COD” alternative to starch and CMC. It can also partially or completely replace the conventional wet strength resin, improving repulpibility and dispersibility of the wet-strengthened sheet in water without sacrificing the required strength targets.

“High solids and extended shelf life of this new strength aid provide advantages over other synthetic resins. In this paper, we will present on this new technology and demonstrate the benefits using laboratory data and industrial case studies.”

 

 

Waheed Al Qannas, site operations manager, Al Sindian Paper Mill, Nuqul Group, Egypt

Sustainable tissue with 100% eucalyptus fibre

“Nuqul tissue, as part of Nuqul group, has its high reputation to preserve; for many years, Nuqul tissue has provided its customers with the highest quality products. It is a commitment that we made to keep our reputation; in our success, we always kept in mind our society and our environment dimensions.

“For these reasons we are participating in this conference with a sustainability focused presentation. We can achieve cost savings through realising resources efficiencies. Through these we can improve our tissue structure design by using 100% eucalyptus fibres in toilet product and achieve a sustainable tissue product design.

“This ensures a continuous improvement of business through measurable environmentally and socially sensitive performances. Eucalyptus is one of the most widely used fibres in the tissue industry, between 40% and 70% is commonly used in conjunction with hardwood and softwood in a standard tissue paper recipe.

“This presentation will show the environmental benefits relating to reduced energy consumption, better land utilisation, improved biodiversity, and quality benefits relating to softness, structure and formation, achieved, from using up to 100% eucalyptus in the tissue paper recipe. We will use data collected from various sources, and from actual results obtained when running 100% eucalyptus on a wide, high speed crescent forming machine.”

 

Luca Collareda, sales and applications engineer – water treatment division, O.M.C. Collareda, Italy

Smart solution on designing tissue plant and integration among internal technologies

“Tissue production is spreading worldwide at a constant growth rate, depending on the country and continent, from 2% up to 10% per year. Demand of the customers, in order to have reliable new projects with shorter ROI, gives the possibility to have the maximum flexibility in terms of reduction on energy consumption and fresh water.

“Furthermore we have to enhance the environmental part of the project (i.e. effluent discharge) which has to match the new regulations.

“O.M.C. Collareda, looking for continuous development in order to meet changing market demands and provide better assistance, has recently expanded its technologies with the introduction of additional equipment for water recovery and treatment, thereby covering completely the sector at 360°. Furthermore O.M.C. Collareda has extended its production programs to include also the specific sector of supplying equipment and plants designed for stock preparation.

“The paper will present a practical application for 80 TPD Virgin + Recycled Line for Tissue, going through the integration of various technologies and know-how available at OMC Collareda. This project is specifically designed and developed for a customer located in Central – South America, who has given to us 100% of the responsibility. Process data and plant performances will be presented.”

 

TWM2014NovDec_TWI4 (Custom)