BELGIUM Burgo Ardennes has ordered a fully automatic pallet packaging line from Reker designed for a capacity of 70 pallets/hr. It will feature an automatic top film dispenser with four different film widths, a fully automatic flat film wrapping machine, an electric shrink-film heater with a four-way blowing system, a strapping machine for polyester bands and a labeling robot for both A3 and A4 labels.

CANADA Montreal Alliance Forest Products has chosen Voith Sulzer to supply a new PM at its Donnacona mill in Quebec. The 152,000 ton/yr PM will produce soft-nip calendered uncoated mechanical papers. Startup is scheduled for 2000.

CHINA Ciba Specialty Chemicals and Guangzhou Jianhong Chemical Factory have joined forces in a joint venture to supply fluorescent whitening agent (FWA) to the Guangdong Province. The new company is to be named Guangzhou Ciba Specialty Chemicals Co. Despite the region's current economic difficulties, Ciba claims to have seen uninterrupted growth in FWA sales.

In Switzerland, Ciba has also announced the formation of a Colors division through the combination of its existing Pigments and Textile Dyes division.

FINLAND Helsinki Myllykoski is restarting PM 7 at its Anjalankoski mill in Finland. The supercalendered PM has been out of action for one month for a rebuild. The main aim of the project was to improve paper quality, but the capacity was also increased to 185,000 tons/yr.

GERMANY Berlin Mercer International has signed contracts with Ahlstrom Machinery and Jaakko Pöyry for the conversion of its Rosenthal sulfite mill into a kraft pulp mill. Startup is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 1999. Ahlstrom Machinery's order is worth DM 160 million ($89 million) and includes a major rebuild of the continuous cooking system and a new chemical recovery boiler. Jaakko Pöyry will provide engineering services.

ITALY Cartiera di Monfalcone has ordered a new slitter-combiner-rewinder for its mill in northern Italy. The supplier will be A Celli, which has already installed 20 of the AC 860 units worldwide. The machine will be equipped with three unwind stands to accept 2.5 m parent reels and will be able to combine up to three plies of tissue into the 2.2 m diameter finished reels. Operating speed is expected to reach 1,500 m/min.

MALAYSIA Kuala Lumpur Enso, Andritz and a Malaysian company are assessing the feasibility of using fiber from palm oil plantations to make pulp. It is thought that such pulp could be suitable for board production. Following an initial study, the group has decided to do more in-depth research, which could take up to 18 months to complete.

SWEDEN Voith Sulzer's Service Division has acquired Swedish roll service company, Lessebo Valssliperi. Plans have been made to upgrade the capabilities of the site to include pulp and paper mill services similar to
those offered at Voith Sulzer's other service centers.

TURKEY Economic conditions have forced Kahramanmaras to postpone an upgrade of its PM 1. The modernization was expected to increase fluting capacity from 160 tons/day to 300 tons/day. The company was also planning to produce testliner on the PM. In June this year, Kahramanmaras started up a new 150 ton/day fluting machine, PM 2, supplied by Idrocalor.