Clearwater Paper Suspended Idaho Operations Due To Severe Weather Conditions

Visy/Pratt Industries Exec chmn Anthony Pratt is leading a recycling resurgence. His US company Pratt Industries was the fifth largest US boxmaker in 2019 with a 7% market share and an estimated 27.5 billion ft2 of shipments. The US boxes are made mostly out of lowcost mixed paper. His five containerboard mills with 1.91 million tons/yr of 100% recycled content containerboard capacity are nearly fully integrated to 70 Pratt corrugated plants, including 30 sheet plants. Pratt US last year generated more than $3 billion in sales and $550 million in EBITDA, in a year of record-low mixed paper pricing at a negative-$2/ton average and containerboard prices an estimated 175-200% more than the firm’s production cost.

SCA's new facility in Obbola, outside Umeå, has now been inaugurated. This means that the paper mill has the world's largest machine for kraftliner and with it a significantly increased capacity to produce climate-smart packaging material. “This is very good for SCA’s and Obbola's competitiveness and gives us a better ability to deliver in a market that needs to grow as fossil packaging materials are phased out,” says Gustaf Nygren, Mill manager at SCA Obbola. Capacity for kraftliner production is increasing, from 450,000 tons to 725,000 tons annually. The most visible change at the facility is the addition of the world's largest machine, supplied by German Voith, for the production of kraftliner. The machine is 250 meters long and is estimated to weigh around 11,000 tonnes.

ANDRITZ will convert the idled paper machine PM3 at Steyrermühl mill in Austria to produce kraft papers for sustainable flexible packaging. The machine previously produced graphic paper for UPM. The conversion project has been launched by the Heinzel Group, which will take over the Steyrermühl mill from UPM by January 1, 2024. Once rebuilt by ANDRITZ, the paper machine (then PM6) will produce up to 150,000 tons of brown and white low-basis weight kraft paper per year to be sold under the Heinzel Group’s well-established StarKraft brand. The paper will be used for shopper bags, pouches, and other flexible packaging products. Werner Hartmann, COO of Heinzel Pöls, says: “With this investment, StarKraft will become one of the world’s leading brands for bleached and unbleached kraft paper. ANDRITZ PrimeLine technology is already successfully operating at our Pöls and Laakirchen mills. The current rebuild by ANDRITZ will help us expand our product portfolio for sustainable packaging.”