 |
|
Containerboard mill closures continue The strategic reduction in U.S. containerboard capacity continued in June with Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. (SSCC) announcing that it permanently closed its 130,000 tpy York, Pa., recycled corrugating medium mill. The mill had been shut since Feb. 15 for market-related reasons. The mill operated two machines while a third machine was idled. With the York mill closure, almost 600,000 tpy of containerboard capacity could be eliminated from the U.S. supply line, effective in 2001, Pulp & Paper Week reported. The volume would reduce today’s U.S. containerboard capacity by an estimated 1.5%. The reductions include Inland Paperboard & Packaging Inc.’s conversion of its 285,000 recycled corrugating medium mill in Newport, Ind., to gypsum wallboard facing paper, and a major integrated producer who has talked privately about closing a U.S. medium mill. However, Inland will be able to swing the Newport mill between wallboard paper and medium or linerboard, a company official said, emphasizing production of wallboard paper. The mill will be renamed Premier Boxboard Ltd. LLC and be managed as a joint venture of Inland and Caraustar Industries Inc.
G-P, Xerox team to expand distribution Georgia-Pacific Corp. and Xerox Corp. have announced an agreement through which Georgia-Pacific has acquired the exclusive license for the Xerox brand of commodity multipurpose papers sold in the U.S. and Canada, along with related assets. This agreement covers three types of 84 and 87 brightness multipurpose commodity papers. Under the contract, G-P will sell the line of commodity multipurpose papers under the Xerox brand and distribute it through Unisource Worldwide, a wholly owned subsidiary of G-P. In addition, Unisource Worldwide will be the sole national merchant in the U.S. and Canada for Xerox premium papers and value-added media supplies such as laser compatible cartridges, digital printing papers for color and transparencies. G-P will continue to manufacture Xerox 84 and 87 brightness multipurpose papers for the U.S. Xerox and G-P will continue serving existing channels of distribution and will collaborate on expanding distribution throughout the U.S. and Canada. Xerox, as an agent for Georgia-Pacific, will continue to sell commodity papers utilizing Xerox sales representatives and authorized distribution partners. Both companies will continue to source Xerox-branded commodity papers from other qualified suppliers.
Consortium offers to save Gaspesia mill A consortium comprising Fonds de Solidarite FTQ, Clermont Levasseur, and SNC-Lavalin, an engineering and construction firm based in Montreal, said in June it submitted an offer to Abitibi-Consolidated Inc. for the acquisition of the Gaspesia paper mill in Chandler, Que. Details of the actual bid were not available, but a company spokesman said the former newsprint mill under the plan would be converted to produce coated free-sheet paper in a capital project totaling approximately C$400 million. Abitibi confirmed it had received at least three proposals for the idled Gaspesia mill. The company would not identify the interested parties, but knowledgeable industry sources in Canada said the companies were Gaspesia Paper Inc., a group at least partly comprised of former Repap Enterprises executive Pat Maley and former Pine Falls Paper Co. president Fern Pitre, SNC Lavalin Group Inc., and an unidentified group of American investors represented by Canadian attorney Guy Bertrand. IP weighs TMP line at Bucksport mill Mill officials at the former Champion International Corp. coated groundwood paper mill in Bucksport, Maine--newly acquired by International Paper Co.--have outlined plans to install a new thermomechanical pulp (TMP) mill to replace the existing mechanical pulp lines at the mill. The proposed $170 million investment at the mill would reduce air emissions and noise from the mill and would likely lead to a reduction of 100 jobs. The new TMP system would almost double the electrical demand at the mill, nearly matching the output from a new gas-fired turbine generator scheduled to go online this summer. That increased demand would have no impact on the regional electric grid. The project at the former Champion mill has not been approved by IP. If approved, actual construction would begin after permits have been received and is expected to require 14 to 18 months to complete. Mills officials hope to have all necessary permits by the end of the year. Mead idles machines at Chillicothe mill Mead Corp. reported it permanently closed a small paper machine at its mill in Chillicothe, Ohio, in a move to consolidate carbonless paper production on the operation’s larger, newly upgraded machine. The company also said it has indefinitely idled a small uncoated free-sheet paper machine and will reduce output of uncoated paper longer term. The mill is not eliminating products but plans to produce less "non-strategic uncoated grades." The company anticipated the closures would eliminate about 65 jobs at the mill, but reported that impacted employees were able to move to other positions in the operation. Carbonless PM No. 11, with capacity for 115 tpd or about 40,000 tpy, was permanently shuttered May 5, the company said, and production was moved to PM No. 12, the mill’s "most efficient and cost-effective paper machine." Uncoated free-sheet PM No. 21, with capacity for 70 tpd or 24,000 tpy, was taken out of service indefinitely March 6 and remains idled. K-C nonwovens mills get $73 million boost Kimberly-Clark Corp. said it will invest $73 million at two northeast Mississippi nonwovens plants that are part of the company’s Away-From-Home sector. The heart of the investment is to replace nine converting lines at a Corinth, Miss., disposable industrial wipes plant. K-C will also upgrade two existing base machines at a nearby nonwovens manufacturing plant that makes materials used in products such as K-C’s Huggies diapers. The projects are expected to be completed by August 2001. The Alcorn County plants employ 500. No new jobs are anticipated through the modernization. State and local authorities put together a tax incentive and state-funded job training program to win the investment. Oregon mill to rebuild PM West Linn Paper Co. is rebuilding its No. 3 paper machine with new ABB machine gauging, Voith slotted screens and dilution headbox, press upgrades, and Celleco cleaners, the Oregon company said. The $10 million project will enhance the roll and paper quality of the company’s Capistrano and Sonoma grades. Weyco upgrades Ontario paper mill Weyerhaeuser Co. announced a project to upgrade the No. 2 uncoated free-sheet paper machine at its Dryden, Ont., mill. Project cost was not disclosed. The company said the investment is aimed at improving the quality of the sheet produced as well as the machine’s reliability and speed. The project includes upgrades to the fiber furnish system, the press section, control system and other reliability components. Completion of the project is expected by May 2001. The company did not disclose how much the machine’s speed or capacity would increase as a result of the investment. The mill’s two machines have a combined capacity of 362,000 tpy of uncoated free-sheet.
Coastal B.C. forestry workers strikeNearly 12,000 forest industry workers in coastal British Columbia walked off the job June 27 after labor talks broke down in a dispute over contract issues including shift scheduling. The strike was capable of spreading to the province’s interior region although Canfor Corp. on June 30 reached a pact with its workers that was expected to set a pattern agreement for the interior industry sector. The Industrial Wood and Allied Workers of Canada (IWA) union said it told its coastal members to strike after the employers' bargaining association refused to drop contract demands that the union has called concessions. Employers have said increased scheduling flexibility would boost productivity and offset the cost of any wage hikes. Coastal employers have warned that the strike could force some sawmills to close permanently because they are still suffering from several years of reduced demand in Japan because of that country's economic problems. That could impact pulp and paper mills if the strike were to be long such as one in 1986 that lasted four months.
Thorold Paper mill to be liquidated A year-long effort to save the Gallaher Thorold Paper Co. specialty paper mill in Thorold, Ont., was apparently abandoned in June as the mill’s controllers said the facility’s assets will be liquidated. The receiver for the former Fraser Papers operation, Ernst & Young Inc., said in a statement it had "no other course of action," despite exhaustive efforts to find an operating buyer for the mill. Ernst & Young said it has spent C$900,000 to maintain the mill, which has been part of the Niagara regional community for nearly 100 years. The mill closed in May 1999 owing about $70 million after it was purchased by U.S. businessman Michael Gallaher in 1997. Prior to its shutdown, the mill produced coated specialty packaging papers, envelope papers, file folder stock and saturated papers using 100% deinked pulp produced onsite. The 260-mtpd specialty mill has three fourdrinier paper machines, including a 154-in trim machine that was restarted in 1998.
Fire safety cigarette paper planned Schweitzer-Mauduit International Inc. said it reached agreement with Philip Morris Companies Inc. to proceed with the modification of some paper machines and related manufacturing equipment at its Spotswood, N.J., paper mill to produce cigarette paper that reduces the risk of starting accidental fires. The two companies announced the new technology to improve the fire safety of cigarettes earlier this year. The capital cost to implement the banded cigarette paper project will depend upon the specific equipment conversion plan implemented at Spotswood, but if fully implemented could result in a capital investment in excess of $40 million. The Spotswood mill operates a total of seven paper machines producing 132 tpd of cigarette wrap paper, reconstituted tobacco products, and drinking straw papers. FiberMark projects 3Q machine startup Specialty papermaker FiberMark Inc. of Brattleboro, Vt., said it will start up a new specialty paper machine at its Warren Glen, N.J., facility by the end of the third quarter. The new machine at Warren Glen will replace a machine that currently operates at the nearby Hughesville, N.J., mill. The new machine represents an investment of $19 million, of which $5 million has been spent to date, said a company spokesman. The new machine at Warren Glen will manufacture many of the same technical specialty products currently produced at the Hughesville mill, but with improved quality and higher productivity. FiberMark plans to consolidate the Warren Glen and Hughesville product lines and, subsequently close the Hughesville facility by the end of the year.
Six U.S. producers settle with states Several major U.S. tissue producers reached a settlement with three states that filed a lawsuit alleging the companies conspired to fix prices in the tissue market. The six companies—Fort James Corp., Kimberly-Clark Corp., Wisconsin Tissue Mills, Encore Paper Co., Bay West Paper Co., and Marcal Paper Mills Inc.—will together pay $1.2 million in cash and tissue products to the states of New York, Maryland, and West Virginia over a three-year period, according to a press release from the West Virginia attorney general’s office. The companies agreed to the settlement terms but did not admit any wrongdoing, the release said. Restarted tissue mill considers expansion American Tissue Corp. said it was operating the No. 2 paper machine and was working on restarting the other paper machine, No. 3, at its newly acquired 40 tons/day tissue, toweling, and napkin mill in Augusta, Maine. The company completed the purchase of the former Tree-Free Fiber Co. mill on June 2 and immediately started up PM No. 2, said an official of the Hauppauge, N.Y.-based parent company. Operating under the name American Tissue Mills of Maine LLC, the mill will ship some of its output to converting operations owned by the parent company in other states, said the executive. American Tissue has paper production and converting facilities throughout the U.S., with several in the Northeast. Further capital investment in the newly acquired Augusta mill has not been determined, but $10 million in improvements to the existing two paper machines as well as the possible addition of a third paper machine are being considered. The mill uses 100 percent deinked pulp purchased on the market, as the facility lacks a deinking operation.
Bowater plans new boiler at Thunder Bay Bowater Inc. said it will install a new kraft recovery boiler at its massive Thunder Bay, Ont., newsprint and market pulp mill. The approximately $88 million project is scheduled to be completed in mid-2001. The company intends to improve the facility’s rate of discharge for both air and particulate emissions, as well as improve mill operating efficiencies. An older boiler will be replaced. There is no planned increase of capacity at the mill, which has capacity for 500,000 mtpy of bleached softwood kraft market pulp and 500,000 mtpy of newsprint. Bowater also reported it is considering a project at its Catawba, S.C., facility for the modernization of a major portion of its kraft mill. This expanded project would allow the mill to comply with the new regulations as well as improve its overall operating efficiencies.
Mead adds pulp baling in Maine Mead Corp. said in June it is in the midst of installing pulp baling equipment to the former No. 9 paper machine that was recently converted to market pulp output at its Rumford, Maine, paper mill. The $15 million project enabled the mill to begin selling hardwood market pulp rolls in January; pulp production was temporarily idled for the baling installation. The Rumford mill will have a market pulp capacity of 99,000 tpy. The company added that it will slightly increase coated paper output at the mill through machine efficiency and speedups. Asia Pulp and Paper to buy B.C. market pulp mill Singapore-based Asia Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd. (APP) entered an agreement to purchase the 420,000 mtpy Celgar Pulp Inc. northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) market pulp mill in Castlegar, B.C. The mill is being sold by its receiver KPMG Inc. of Vancouver. Celgar’s bank owners, the Royal Bank of Canada and the U.K.’s National Westminster Bank, have pursued a sale since the end of 1998 when Stone Container Corp. quit operating the debt-laden facility. Canadian industry observers said financing details were not available and speculated the deal was worth over C$400 million. APP said the acquisition will help in integrating APP’s paper capacity in Asia. The purchase is subject to regulatory approvals in Canada. Haindl starts up new SC-PM Haindl recently celebrated the its second paper machine startup in two weeks in June. The German producer tried to start up its new supercalendered (SC) PM at the Schongau mill on June 27. But the company was forced to fine tune PM No. 9's control system before launching production on the 200,000 mtpy Voith Sulzer machine on June 29. Haindl also managed to run the machine without stock earlier. PM 9 has a design speed of 2,200 m/min, but Haindl started off the machine at 1,330 m/min. PM 9 will produce SC-B roto-gravure paper in a basis weight range of 45-60 g/m2. The new PM 9 is replacing an old 150,000 mtpy standard newsprint machine.
IP, Weyco mills plan market downtime Producers responded to a weak uncoated free-sheet market in the second and third quarters of the year by taking production downtime. International Paper Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co. confirmed in June that they would take market-related shuts at several of their uncoated free-sheet paper mills. IP’s shuts were taken at four mills during June and ranged from two days to one week. The mills are Selma, Ala.; Franklin, Va.; Ticonderoga, N.Y.; and Lock Haven, Pa. An estimate of how much production was curtailed was not available. A company official said IP shut the machines to balance order books. Weyerhaeuser confirmed that it is taking "limited curtailments" at selected uncoated free-sheet mills to balance inventories. The mills and amount of production to be curtailed were not available.
Newark buys bankrupt Massachusetts mill The Newark Group said it purchased the former Princeton Paper Co. paper mill in Fitchburg, Mass. The mill was auctioned for $15 million on April 4 as a result of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings initiated a year ago by Harnischfeger Industries Inc., the parent of Beloit Corp. The acquisition became final on June 23. Newark plans to invest up to $100 million to renovate the historic mill, which once anchored the specialty papermaking operations of James River Corp. The mill was built in 1910 and operated under a number of owners. Newark Group will upgrade the mill to produce laminated paperboard for book covers, binders, game boards and related products from 100% recycled newspapers and office papers. The new machine that will operate at the mill is similar to one used at the Newark Group's mill in Barcelona, Spain. Company officials expect the Fitchburg graphic board operation to be up and running in 15 months. It will have initial capacity to produce 85,000 tpy and employ 100 workers.
Strike at Perkins Paper resolved Perkins Papers Ltd. said 120 employees at its folding carton division in Lachute, Que., went on strike from June 12-19 after negotiations for a new collective agreement broke off on June 9. A new collective bargaining agreement was approved by 99% of the employees represented by Local 555, Montreal of the Graphic Communications International Union. The old collective agreement expired on June 30, 1999. Plainwell reaches five-year contract Plainwell Inc. announced the ratification of a new five-year labor contract with the 275 members of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical, and Energy Workers International (PACE) Local 7-0042 at its tissue mill in Eau Claire, Wis. According to a press release, the contract calls for an average of a 2.8% increase in combined wages and pension rates over the five-year term. The contract was approved May 17 with a vote of 194 to 65, and is retroactive to Apr. 1. The signing of the contract completes the labor negotiations for Plainwell Tissue for the next five years.
L-P, Slocan map out OSB joint venture Louisiana-Pacific Corp. and Slocan Forest Products Ltd. said they formed a joint venture to build a C$200 million oriented strand board (OSB) plant in British Columbia. Plans call for the 700 million ft2 capacity facility to be built in the Fort St. John area in eastern British Columbia just north of the Montana border. The two companies agreed on the joint venture, called Slocan-LP OSB Corp., after originally planning to build their own OSB mills in British Columbia. The joint venture expects construction of the mill will take 12 to 18 months and will start after it gains environmental clearance. The mill will employ more than 500 workers.
U.S. newsprint price hike scheduled Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., Bowater Inc., and Kruger Inc., the largest three North American newsprint producers respectively, separately notified U.S. customers they plan to implement a Sept. 1, $50/metric ton increase on standard 30-lb newsprint, Pulp & Paper Week reported. The three companies combined represent an estimated 55% of North American newsprint capacity. The increase, if successful, will raise the price of U.S. newsprint by 9% toward $610/mton nationwide—the highest price for U.S. newsprint in four years. The price increase was also announced later by North American newsprint producers including North Pacific Paper Corp., Pacifica Papers Inc., Tembec Inc., and Jefferson Smurfit Pomona. Newsprint markets are reported to be tight as strong publisher demand has strained supply.
IP, G-P, Weyco e-biz alliance progresses The online alliance between pulp and papermaking giants International Paper Co., Georgia-Pacific Corp., and Weyerhaeuser Co., will be called ForestExpress.com, the companies have confirmed. ForestExpress--the formation of which was announced in March--will be independent of the three founding companies, and will focus both on procurement and sales of forest products. Dave Paterson, G-P’s v.p. of e-commerce, emphasized that the new company--the formation of which was announced in March--will be entirely independent of the three founding companies, and will focus both on procurement and sales of forest products. The website--which will include a product catalog, exchanges and auctions, and system-to-system interfaces--will be launched late in the fourth quarter.
‘Cluster’ costs linger for major players As the first deadline approaches for Cluster Rule compliance, many U.S. pulp and paper companies are nearing completion on capital projects to achieve compliance with the stricter environmental legislation. Mills must eliminate the use of chlorine and hypochlorite from their bleach plants to meet stricter water effluent standards and comply with MACT I and MACT III air regulations by April 15, 2001. Consequently, projected spending for Cluster Rule compliance has dropped significantly as numerous projects have been completed in the past year. Companies that expect to invest the most for compliance in the next year or two include International Paper Co., Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp., Bowater Inc., and Westvaco Corp. IP expects to invest a total of $229 million in 2000 and 2001. Smurfit-Stone expects to invest $200 million in 2000 for environmental capital expenditures, with the majority required for Cluster Rule compliance. G-P expects to invest $190 million for Cluster Rule compliance in 2000 following a total investment of $160 million in the past two years. Bowater expects to invest $150 million to $200 million over the period 2000 to 2004 for compliance. Westvaco anticipates additional capital costs to comply with Cluster Rule regulations over the next several years to be in the range of $100 million to $150 million.
Bleached board price rises by $40/ton Several producers of bleached packaging board in June announced new price levels. International Paper Co., the largest U.S. producer of bleached board, said that as of July 14 transaction prices for all grades rose by $40/ton. The company cited rising raw material costs, particularly for energy, as the primary reason for the price hikes. If the latest price increases are accepted by customers, average transaction levels would be close to the 1995 record high of about $900/ton. In addition to IP, other companies that confirmed new price announcements for bleached packaging board were Westvaco Corp., which is raising cartonboard prices by $40/ton on Aug. 1; Durango-Georgia Paper Co. (formerly Gilman Paper Co.), plan to raise poly coated and uncoated plate stock by about $50/ton on July 21; and Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc., who planned to raise poly coated cup and plate stock by $40/ton on July 15.
|
| Pulp & Paper Magazine, August 2000 | CONTENTS | ||
| Columns | Departments | Focus/Features | News |
| From the Editors | News of people | North American Status Reports | Month in Stats |
| Maintenance Management | Conference Calendar | Papermaking | Grade Profile |
| Comment | Supplier News | Power & Energy | News Scan |
| Mill Operations | Maintaining mills | ||
Find out if you qualify for a free subscription to the print edition of Pulp & Paper magazine.  |
|||