• Sales amounted to 1,285.6 million euros (MEUR) and were thus lower than the reference figure for the previous year (-8.5% versus Q1 2015: 1,404.3 MEUR). All business areas recorded a decline in sales.
• Order intake, at 1,247.4 MEUR, reached a satisfactory level, however, it was 12.8% below the reference figure of the previous year (Q1 2015: 1,430.6 MEUR). While the PULP & PAPER business area in particular and also SEPARATION were able to increase order intake compared to Q1 2015, HYDRO and METALS saw a significant decline in order intake.
• Order backlog as of March 31, 2016 amounted to 7,147.6 MEUR, thus decreasing slightly compared to the end of last year (December 31, 2015: 7,324.2 MEUR).
• Despite the decline in sales, EBITA increased to 83.9 MEUR (Q1 2015: 73.4 MEUR). This is due to the very positive development in the PULP & PAPER and HYDRO business areas. Thus, profitability of the Group (EBITA margin) increased to 6.5% (Q1 2015: 5.2%).
• Net income without non-controlling interests increased to 52.5 MEUR (Q1 2015: 44.0 MEUR).

The situation on the markets served by ANDRITZ basically has not changed compared to 2015. While unchanged good project and investment activity prevails in the PULP & PAPER business area, several projects in HYDRO and METALS have been stopped temporarily or delayed due to uncertain demand. Based on the business results achieved in the first quarter of 2016, ANDRITZ expects Group sales for 2016 to decrease slightly compared to 2015. At the same time, however, profitability is expected to remain at a solid level.

The objective of the guidelines publication is to achieve greater harmonisation, to improve the implementation of the EN 643 Standard and to facilitate commercial relationships between paper mills and paper for recycling suppliers.

The revised guidelines put a strong emphasis on the inspection procedure for quality control at the paper mill and explain what controllers should consider during an inspection in order to decide if a load should be accepted, conditionally accepted or refused. After a general control, further important parameters for quality control are named, i.e. bale conditions, moisture control and control of unwanted materials. The control procedure recommended is described in detail and illustrated by a decision tree at the end of the document.

The guidelines give furthermore recommendations on the level of information for suppliers, documentation and staff education.

The guideline is available here.

Some 420.000 tonnes of beverage cartons were recycled in paper mills in 2014, according to industry-wide figures. This represents a recycling rate of 43% in Europe (EU-28, Norway and Switzerland) and is evidence of the continuing upward trend in recycling performance over the last two decades. The total recovery rate (recycling and energy recovery) in 2014 reached 76%.

“Beverage carton recycling continued its long term growth trend also in 2014”, says Bertil Heerink, Director General of ACE. Several countries including Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Spain recycle 70% or more of all beverage cartons put on the market. A steady increase is seen in new EU Member States and substantial advance in the UK.

“The beverage carton industry is continuously working to increase recycling levels of our products in Europe”, says Heerink. “We are firmly committed to contribute to the objectives of the European Commission Circular Economy Package. However, the legal proposals need to look ahead to 2030 and recognise the changing market demands and foster innovation in packaging solutions, materials and recycling techniques.“

“To grow recycling, EU waste legislation needs to ensure effective collection and recycling of end of life products and recyclable packaging such as beverage cartons through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Further efforts are needed on banning packaging waste from landfilling to ensure valuable raw materials are not ending up in landfills or being unnecessarily incinerated,” he concludes.

The new production line will have an annual pulp production capacity of 1.75 million tonnes. The contract is expected to be put into force during the third quarter of 2015.

The scope of supply of the Andritz pulp & paper business area covers the EPC delivery of the complete fiberline as well as the recovery island, including all relevant process steps. Stat-up of production is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2017.

More specifically, Valmet will gain a clear and in-depth insight of the issues the pulp and paper industry is facing, with the opportunity to be part of CEPI’s activities with its stakeholders. CEPI will gain knowledge and expertise, building on its ever-strong eco-system around industry suppliers with the ultimate goal of strenghtening its innovation agenda. “Valmet and CEPI have a lot to gain from this partnership. It is a priviledge to collaborate with such a highly-valued industry supplier and we are very excited to see where this partnership will lead us”, says Marco Mensink, CEPI’s Director General.

Valmet Corporation is the leading global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. Valmet’s services cover everything from maintenance outsourcing to mill and plant improvements and spare parts. Their strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bio-energy production.

This is the second new partnership for CEPI in 2015, with Pöyry having joined the programme in March. The partnership programme, launched in 2011, currently includes Buckman, Pöyry, Omya, Valmet and Voith. It is open to machine and chemical suppliers active in the pulp, paper or board industry with a direct link to paper manufacturing.

The value of the order is not disclosed. Part of this order is included in Metso’s first-quarter 2015 orders received and divided bookings will follow during the remaining three quarters in 2015. Metso’s deliveries will take place during 2015, and the consumer board machine is scheduled to be operational at the beginning of 2016.

The valve delivery contains Metso’s Neles® ball valves, V-port segment valves and triple eccentric Neldisc® butterfly valves for on-off and control applications. The control valves are equipped with Neles® ND9000 series intelligent valve controllers, which have the capability for advanced performance follow-up. They also enable predictive maintenance planning activities.

“We are pleased that Stora Enso continues to count on our expertise and that our valve offering met their needs for the new mill. Our strengths are in understanding the mill processes and providing the best valve solutions. Reliable valves are crucial in maximizing pulp and paper process availability and increasing efficiency. Our strong valve services expertise will allow us to provide the needed predictive and preventative maintenance activities that our customers need and deserve,” states Hangpheng Tan, Vice President, Sales and Service, Flow Control, China.

Metso and Stora Enso have a long-term relationship. Metso’s valve solutions are contributing to Stora Enso’s process efficiency at several plants globally. In China, Metso has a remarkable installed base of valve technology in the pulp and paper industry, and the company serves all major pulp and paper companies in the country.

Metso has a long track record of delivering engineered performance and reliability to the pulp and paper industry. Metso is the market leader in control and on-off valves for pulp and paper customers globally – about 75% of the world’s pulp flows through Metso’s valves. Many of the pulp and paper industry-specific valve innovations come from Metso. They include the capping valve for batch cooking, high-consistency valve for bleaching, NelesACE(TM) valve for basis weight control, ceramic ball valve for erosive applications. Additionally, Metso is one of the leading suppliers of intelligent valve controllers.

Metso has strong pulp and paper industry expertise in valve solutions, and its comprehensive value-added services improve customers’ process efficiency. Metso’s flow control offering and services for the pulp and paper industry focus on three main areas: solving technical and process issues, improving business performance, and managing a business area. Today, Metso has more than 40 valve and field device service centers worldwide.

Metso’s valve technology centers and valve production facilities are located in Finland, the United States, Germany, China, South Korea, India and Brazil.

As the largest fibre recycler in Europe, DS Smith recovers circa 5.4 million tonnes of paper and packaging annually for recycling. Recovered packaging (and other fibre grades provide the raw materials used in production by the Group’s paper making operations.

“OptiConcept M is a new and modular way to design, build and operate a paper machine. Its modular approach enables short delivery times, quick start-up and low project costs. This will be Valmet’s first OptiConcept M installation in North America and we are all proud to work with Pratt on this project,” says Mike Gray, SVP Sales, Valmet North America

The new machine will have a wire width of 6.25 meters and a design speed of 1,200 m/min. Valmet’s scope of delivery will comprise a complete OptiConcept M board production line from headbox to winder.

Taking his home market as an example of a “negative” political environment, Mr Schmidt said that the introduction of a circular economy law in 2012 has put Germany’s traditional recycling branch on the “endangered” list and weakened the country’s recycling structure. “We don’t expect any privileges, but we want at least to be able to work in fair competition with public powers,” he said. Policy-makers should give more consideration to the jobs created and taxes paid by these companies, he added.

In her overview of European Recovered Paper Association (ERPA) activities, the body’s President Merja Helander of Finland-based Lassila & Tikanoja also focused on legislative matters in describing the European Parliament’s rejection late last year of the end-of-waste proposal for paper as “a big surprise and disappointment”. It has since been suggested that the paper and recycling industries should “find a new beginning and understanding” about end-of-waste and “come up with a binding solution”. The speaker acknowledged the process will take more time – possibly “a couple of years” – but insisted: “ERPA will definitely do its utmost to start the process again. End-of-waste is far too important to our industry; we must not give up but find new ways to solve the problems.”

In the review of recovered paper markets in Europe, Ms Helander spoke of a “reasonable balance” in Scandinavia while Lars-Gunnar Almryd of IL Recycling noted that Turkish mills using mainly OCC “have started to utilise all grades, thus pushing up their prices”. In Southern Europe, said Thomas Braun of BVSE, mills are continuing to come under pressure from energy costs and other factors.

The reports for Western Europe, delivered by Dominique Maguin of La Compagnie des Matières Premières and Paprec’s Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, both of France, underlined “persistent” fibre supply pressure, as well as the importance of using appropriate terminology when referring to the industry’s materials and activities.

The report on the Asian markets from Ranjit Baxi of UK-based J&H Sales International highlighted a sharp drop in Europe’s recovered fibre shipments to China from 2.11m tonnes in the first quarter of 2013 to 1.897m tonnes in the corresponding period this year. US shipments to the same destination were broadly unchanged whereas deliveries to China from other Asian countries soared from 318,000 tonnes to 727,000 tonnes. China’s total imports from all sources were fractionally higher in this year’s first quarter at 7.2m tonnes.