Ahlstrom Agrees to Sell Its Aspa Pulp Mill in Sweden to Sweden Timber

Oct. 14, 2024 - Ahlstrom has signed an agreement to sell its Aspa pulp mill in Sweden to Sweden Timber. The agreement includes the pulp mill and all its operations.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Sweden Timber is a Swedish wood processing company with assets also in papermaking and wood composites.

The Aspa pulp mill, which is located in Aspa, Sweden (about 122 km or 76 miles south of Stockholm), produces bleached and unbleached softwood pulp that is used in a broad range of applications in paper and sold globally. It has an annual capacity of approximately 200,000 tonnes and 174 employees.

According to Ahlstrom, several external parties have expressed interest in acquiring the Aspa plant throughout the years. For Ahlstrom, it was important to find an owner who has an interest in further developing the mill and ensuring its long-term success.

"Aspa mill and its employees have done a great job contributing to Ahlstrom's success over the years, and I'm very thankful for that," said Wolfgang Laures, Chief Operating Officer at Ahlstrom. "We believe that Aspa will have a better home with Sweden Timber, which is looking to develop its pulp production capabilities.

"This divestment allows us to focus on Ahlstrom's specialty materials portfolio," Laures added.

Mikael Arvidsson, CEO of Sweden Timber, commented, "We look forward to continuing business and developing Aspa together with the mill's experienced team. We are committed to continuing to serve existing customers in the future with Aspa's high-quality pulp."

Ahlstrom expects the transaction to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2024.

SOURCE: Ahlstrom

Suzano Expects to Reduce Production of Market Pulp in 2024 by Four Percent

Oct. 4, 2024 - Suzano announced that it expects to reduce its production volume of market pulp in 2024 by approximately 4% when compared to its nominal production capacity (not including Cerrado Project).

Suzano's new pulp mill located in Ribas do Rio Pardo (state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil), which the company named "Cerrado Project" while under construction, started-up in mid-July 2024 and has the capacity to produce 2.55 million tons per year of eucalyptus pulp.

Not including the new Ribas do Rio Pardo pulp mill, Suzano's installed production capacity of market pulp is about 10.9 million tons per year.

Suzano explained that the decision to reduce market pulp production is based on the fact that this production volume would not bring adequate returns for the company during a more complex pulp market period.

However, Suzano emphasized that the change in its production volume will not impact the compliance with its obligations undertaken with clients, as well as suppliers.

Suzano noted that the operation of the Ribas do Rio Pardo Unit continues as expected with a production volume of 900,000 tons remaining for the year 2024.

Suzano is the world's largest producer of hardwood pulp and a global leader in the innovation and production of renewable, bio-based materials for consumer and industrial use.

SOURCE: Suzano

EU Commission Proposes Postponement of Implementation of Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Oct. 3, 2024 - The EU Commission today proposed a postponement of the implementation of the Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). The pulp and paper sector welcomes the announcement, which offers an occasion to develop a stronger framework to fight deforestation. The European Parliament and EU Council will still need to confirm the delayed phase-in.

The EU Commission has proposed [on Oct. 3] a draft amendment to postpone by a year the implementation of a regulation aiming to limit deforestation linked to commodities, not only imported but also produced and exported from the European Union.

Long-expected guidelines to the implementation of the EUDR have now been published in conjunction with the announcement, but the information system build by the EU to enforce the tracking of materials and commodities remains to be completed. A benchmarking system assessing the risk level by country is also still pending. Based on these delays, the EU pulp and paper sector represented by Cepi (Confederation of European Paper Industries) has been vocal about the need for an adequate transition period for the EUDR.

“The EUDR is too important not to get it right,” said Jori Ringman, Director General of Cepi. “We certainly do not ignore the environmental crisis and the climate emergency, which the EUDR is designed to help solve. Nor is our industry a source of deforestation. From a business angle, deforestation is major reputational risk which for any industry; our industry also depends on healthy forests for our own future.”

It is not unusual to see transitional implementation periods applied for EU legislation. The predecessor to the EUDR, the EU timber regulation (EUTR) had a 3-year transition period, for a much simpler system. The EUTR remains in place and ensures no wood from illegal sources is placed on the EU market.

EUDR rules state that companies must ensure that their products were not made on areas deforested after 2020. They require passing tracking information along complex value chains, which is particularly challenging when materials are mixed from different sources as is the case for paper. The delay will now allow for a better implementation of the regulation, and stronger impact on deforestation.

Ringman concluded, “We fully support the objectives of the EUDR, and with this new timeline, we believe that the EU and its trade partners now have a much better chance at finally eradicating deforestation.”

Cepi is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation representing the European pulp and paper industry. Through its 18 national associations, Cepi gathers 490 companies operating 885 pulp and paper mills across Europe producing paper, cardboard, pulp and other bio-based products.

SOURCE: Cepi

Mercer International Taking Maintenance Downtime at Its Peace River Pulp Mill

Sept. 27, 2024 - Mercer International announced that its Peace River pulp mill in Alberta, Canada, has taken downtime to complete necessary repairs to the mill's digester after experiencing a mechanical failure.

Mercer currently expects the repairs and related assessments will be completed in mid-October and anticipates that NBHK production at the mill will be reduced by approximately 45,000 tonnes as a result of the downtime.

Mercer noted that it maintains property and business interruption insurance for the Peace River mill and expects the repairs and business interruption will be covered by such insurance, subject to customary deductibles and limits.

Mercer Peace River produces both high-quality softwood and hardwood pulp. The majority of the mill's pulp sales are to North American customers, while the remainder is shipped to Asian and European markets.

Mercer International is a global forest products company with operations in Germany, the USA and Canada with consolidated annual production capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of pulp, 960 million board feet of lumber, 210 thousand cubic meters of cross-laminated timber, 45,000 cubic meters of glulam, 17 million pallets and 230,000 metric tonnes of biofuels.

SOURCE: Mercer International Inc.