The case for acacia

Acacia is proving to be a good source of fiber on the pulp buyer's menu

Eucalyptus is a leading market pulp grade, yet most remember the days when only a handful of buyers took it seriously as a papermaking fiber. Those who doubt the ability of another single-species hardwood, acacia, to take on established grades should bear this in mind - particularly as thousands of hectares of acacia are on the brink of maturity in Indonesian plantations.

But is acacia merely a more environmentally acceptable alternative to mixed tropical hardwood? Far from it. While the use of plantation timber will certainly help the image of Indonesian producers, the acacia fiber itself is totally different from mixed tropical hardwood fibers. As acacia rapidly replaces mixed tropical hardwoods as a fiber source in Indonesia, pulp buyers need to be prepared for a very different pulp to dominate shipments from that part of the world. Mixed tropical hardwood is a coarse fiber used for its bulk and stiffness. Opacity is reasonable. Favorite applications include book paper. Acacia, on the other hand, provides pulp with a very high density of very short fibers, which give smoothness and, above all, very high levels of opacity. It is bright and white; tissue, fine paper, bible paper, directory stock, envelope paper and carbonless base paper are among the obvious applications.

Producers also claim that it is an incredibly clean pulp and that digital printing papers will be a strong market. Mixed tropical hardwood pulp users will not see acacia as a direct substitute. For them, chemi-thermomechanical pulp (CTMP) is a more likely alternative. Eucalyptus is the most obvious target for acacia. Both are single-species pulps that can play tit-for-tat on characteristics. Direct comparisons are difficult because eucalyptus from different producers and continents offers individual performance and characteristics. The general view is that while eucalyptus is stronger and bulkier, acacia wins on opacity and both produce a soft tissue. But the main point is that acacia is considered by many to be a reasonable substitute for eucalyptus for a proportion of the furnish. With pulp prices at their present low level, the differential between acacia and eucalyptus is not hugely persuasive, but as one European supplier who does not sell acacia admitted, "It's being sold as a cheap eucalyptus but in truth it's a very good substitute for eucalyptus. The people who are using it find it gives the bulk and formation they want and this is what eucalyptus is used for." On a practical note, the smoothness that acacia's rather flattened fibers produces means the need for calendering might be reduced and this will help preserve bulk.

Runnability

Europe and Asia's papermakers have already used a large amount of acacia pulp but while the fiber has undoubtedly found many fans, it has its critics. Runnability is an issue. A sheet densely populated with small fibers carries water differently from largerfibered alternatives. A German tissue maker said, "There are a lot of disadvantages in the process." But he conceded that many of the problems could be attributed to lack of understanding and experience of the fiber; the fiber density and size means dewatering is bound to be challenging so wet end chemistry will be crucial. "I don't know if it will be a strategic material in the future," the tissue maker concluded.

Another tissue user said, "Most of the vendors haven't succeeded in getting resin extractives as low as eucalyptus and this gives a mild water repellency so it is not as absorbent as eucalyptus. But it is perfectly usable when mixed with eucalyptus." The resin extractives level will depend on log storage duration and the way in which the pulp is processed, so this will vary according to the producer.

One user has pointed out that acacia uses more refining energy than mixed hardwoods or eucalyptus. For those who can get the process right, acacia used as the single short fiber in the furnish will produce a soft tissue, suitable for facial applications. Those who mix it with eucalyptus might save a bit less money but will avoid any runnability problems. One producer said a 50:50 mix was ideal and those who market acacia know that success lies in promoting the grade as a complement, rather than alternative, to eucalyptus.

Acceptability

After the pros and cons have been weighed, we are left with a fiber that has clear benefits which enable it to be sold on more than just price to certain users. That said, few buyers would be persuaded to have a go with acacia if there were no cost incentive.

But acacia is a new fiber with some old battles to fight. According to Friends of the Earth, of the 100 million m³ of wood consumed by the pulp and paper indus try in Indonesia between 1988 and 1999, only eight percent was harvested from plantations. They estimate that pulp mills have caused at least 800,000 hectares of deforestation in the country. Well, acacia is harvested from plantations so the layman might be persuaded that pulp from Indonesia need no longer be tarnished by the country's dubious environmental history.

It is not that simple. Friends of the Earth says it does not wish to bring down big companies which deliver economic benefits to a region but they cannot ignore the fact that much of the acacia plantation has replaced high quality conservation forest and has therefore damaged the environment. As one European supplier said, "They may be plantations but what have they done to plant them?"

The biggest hurdle for Indonesia's pulp producers is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification because without this, some buyers will remain shy. One acacia agent in Europe suggested that use of plantation timber should put acacia on a par with eucalyptus in environmental terms. The big difference is that more than one million hectares of Brazilian forest has been FSC certified. Indonesia has hardly left the starting blocks.

Buyers shy

The effect is that some buyers, particularly if they source pulp for well-known branded goods, simply will not buy pulp from Indonesia, including acacia. One buyer for a major European tissue maker said, "Company policy is not to buy it on environmental grounds," while one of his peers at another major tissue producer said, "We have stopped using it since June 2001." Despite this stance, both had clearly looked into the properties of acacia carefully and were fully aware of production implications and possible benefits in terms of cost and properties. A Nordic printings and writings producer had been substituting up to 25% eucalyptus with acacia with the intention of reaching 50% substitution before it pulled out, concerned about bad publicity. Acacia has everything to gain by FSC certification but as one of the tissue makers pointed out, "There has to be FSC approval but there must be a cost advantage, too."

Availability

PT Tel has pioneered the use of plantation acacia. Its 450,000 tonne/yr pulp mill on Sumatra was designed for acacia - a distinct advantage claims the company. And while the project was delayed by the Asian crisis, this allowed time for the plantations to reach sufficient maturity for harvesting such that the mill could start up in January 2000 on 100% acacia. PT Tel reckons to harvest when trees are between seven and nine years old and claims its plantations have replaced non-productive wasteland, bush and swamps rather than virgin rainforest. Initial tests on the pulp were carried out in Japan.

PT Tel sells 80% of its production through CellMark in all markets except Japan, where Marubeni sells the remaining 20%. Apart from Europe and Asia, a small amount of acacia is sold in the Middle East, the US and Africa.

Cellmark has a few large customers in Europe for acacia with its entire quota being sold on a contract basis to long-term clients, which explains why there are differing opinions on the pulp's availability. But April has big plans for acacia, which could completely change the pulp's distribution and availability.

April started to use acacia in March last year and by the end of 2001 had produced 270,000 tonnes. This year the company expects to increase that to 500,000 tonnes and in the long term, as plantation maturity allows, all production is expected to switch to plantation acacia - and that will mean some two million tonnes/yr.

Other producers include Kiani Kertas, which is expected to produce some 400,000 tonnes of pulp this year, all of it for the market, of which 360,000 tonnes will be acacia. The company's target is 100% acacia. Customers are mainly fine paper producers.

For those who have to worry about acacia's technical characteristics and paper machine performance, the Swedish research institute STFI is close to concluding a study of acacia compared with eucalyptus from Iberia and from Brazil. Others whose interest is more financial are likely to pay more attention to acacia when pulp prices start to edge up, and the gap begins to widen between acacia and its archrival. Acacia suppliers might resist a price differential on the basis that they are selling a mono-species pulp, which should command eucalyptus/birch rates. We shall see. But while the obvious comparison is between acacia and eucalyptus, the bigger picture of hardwood's role in pulp's future should not be ignored. Most of the big pulp investments in the foreseeable future are in hardwood. This is hardly surprising, when one considers that hardwood gives a higher yield than softwood and much of it is produced in countries where cost of labor is relatively low and the conditions are ripe for trees to reach harvesting age quickly. The good formation offered by hardwood is a distinct advantage for today's fast running machines. Acacia is a worthy claimant for a slice of the growing hardwood market.