below please find a selection of the latest news from the world of pulp and paper.

Valmet will deliver, install and start-up TwinRoll™ dewatering press to Metsä Board Joutseno mill in Finland. The start-up is planned for October 2020. The order was included in Valmet’s orders received of the second quarter 2019. The value of the order will not be disclosed. An order with this scope of supply is usually valued in the range of EUR 2.5-3.5 million.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from Hamburger Rieger GmbH, Papierfabrik Spremberg, to supply three paper machine approach flow systems as well as broke screening for the new greenfield production line PM2 in Spremberg, Germany. Start-up is scheduled for mid-2020.

Packaging materials and solutions provider BillerudKorsnäs introduces “a revolution” for online retail. The new product, Xpression E-Com, is a paper quality specially designed for e-commerce bags providing a superior and direct substitute for single-use plastic mailing bags and other less efficient solutions.

The Heimbach management announces that the proposed transaction to merge the Heimbach and AstenJohnson PMC businesses has been called off. While both companies have a high level of respect for each other and saw great potential to merge, the obstacles proved too great to overcome at this time.

Global packaging and paper group Mondi has a long tradition of producing innovative corrugated packaging that is sustainable by design. One of the most recent innovations, the e-shop SizeMeMailer, was honoured with a ScanStar 2019 award, with the jury highlighting the positive environmental credentials that this innovative product can offer e-retailers. According to Mondi, the e-shop SizeMeMailer will set out to challenge the market standards for slim line packaging in e-commerce.

Gulf Paper Manufacturing selected Toscotec for the rebuild of the dryer section of its PM1 at Mina Abdullah paper mill, Kuwait. The paper machine has a reel trim of 2,550 mm and produces fluting, test liner and white top grades from 100 to 200 gsm using 100% recycled fibres. Start-up is planned for the last quarter of 2019.

Valmet and SCG Packaging have signed a two-year roll recovering service agreement to serve SCG’s all subsidiaries in Southeast Asia region, which include Siam Kraft Industry Co., Ltd., Thai Cane Paper Public Co., Ltd., Thai Paper Co., Ltd., Phoenix Pulp & Paper Public Co., Ltd., and Vina Kraft Paper Co., Ltd. The value of the agreement will not be disclosed. The agreement has been effective as of May 1, 2019.

The rebuild of the packaging paper machine covered the upgrade of the press and calender sections, including extensions to the existing automation system. To improve the machine’s capacity and the surface quality of the paper, ANDRITZ relocated the existing press from the second to the third press position and installed a new PrimePress X shoe press in the second position. Due to its special shoe design, the PrimePress X enables gentle dewatering and reduced energy consumption. In the calender section, a new PrimeCal Hard hard-nip calender was installed to provide a consistent CD caliper profile, bulk control, and excellent surface finish.

The use of 1MW/unit gas burners in paper production can now be improved with the application of the new NIRIS (Near Infrared Intelligent Sensor) Natural Gas sensor from CMR Group. The sensor, which reduces consumption levels of natural gas-powered burners used for heating, furnaces and other industrial purposes through the real time measurement of fuel quality, is directly connected to the gas feeder pipeline, boosting combustion control and providing enhanced quality control and monitoring capabilities.

Valmet will supply a biomass-fired boiler and a flue gas treatment plant to BS Energy's combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Braunschweig, Germany. The order was included in Valmet's orders received of the second quarter 2019. The total value of the order is around EUR 50 million.