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

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The ANDRITZ HERB recovery boiler will have a black liquor combustion capacity of 1,950 tds/d, with start-up planned in the second half of 2021.

The art of making paper has a long tradition in the Czech Republic with the first paper mill dating back to the middle ages. Today Mondi Štetí is proud to be “the country’s leading paper mill in terms of size of the mill, production rates, and environmental responsibility”.

SCA has signed an agreement to acquire Sundin Mezs SIA from the unlisted Swedish company Livland Skog AB. Sundin Mezs SIA owns forest and land assets in Latvia. The purchase price is approximately SEK 260 million (€24.2m) on a debt-free basis.

The transaction includes BASF’s manufacturing unit at Ankleshwar, India, where approximately 100 people are currently employed.

Valmet will supply two Defibrator™ systems to the Bashida Group in China, one to Heze Baishida Wood, and another one to Jiangsu Ronghui Wood. The start-up of the two systems is planned for spring 2020. The order is included in Valmet’s orders received of the third quarter 2019. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from Cartiere del Polesine to rebuild an existing OCC line including reject treatment at the mill in Adria, Italy. In addition to all main process components, ANDRITZ will also install two newly developed PrimeScreens X for primary-stage fine screening as well as fractionation. Start-up is scheduled for the first quarter of 2020.

Pekka Rouhiainen, M.Sc. (Econ), has been appointed Director, Investor Relations, at Valmet as of 1 September 2019. He will be based in Espoo, Finland, and will report to Kari Saarinen, CFO at Valmet. For the past few years Rouhiainen has been employed as Investor Relations Director at Cargotec Corporation. He has previous investor relations experience from Sanoma Corporation and has worked as an equity analyst before joining Sanoma.

Stora Enso plans to consolidate the Finnish spruce (whitewood) production to Varkaus sawmill. The plan includes a permanent closure of Kitee sawmill and production increase to Varkaus. The objective is to improve profitability and competitiveness by creating a fully integrated sawmill for spruce production in Varkaus, optimising the synergies from the existing LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber), pulp and board mills.

Valmet will supply a Valmet DNA automation system and measurements to Xuzhou Zhongxing Paper Co., Ltd. in China. The system and consistency transmitters will be installed on the company's paper machine PM1, enabling the line to increase production efficiency and obtain better measurements and controls for improving the process. The order is included in Valmet's orders received of the second quarter 2019. The delivery will take place in the fourth quarter of 2019.

As Tetra Pak’s eighth factory in the Asia Pacific region, this €120 million regional manufacturing facility is set to produce aseptic cartons for domestic and export markets in ASEAN, Australia and New Zealand.

International technology Group ANDRITZ has been chosen as the maintenance and service partner for Arauco’s MAPA project in Chile. The long-term ANDRITZ SYNERGY™ service agreement covers the entire mill, including all pre-engineering, commissioning, start-up and integral maintenance there as well as supply of spare and wear parts and after-sales service. The service agreement, which will start in September 2019 and run for more than nine years through to February 2029, will be managed locally by ANDRITZ Chile. It is the largest maintenance and service contract ANDRITZ has ever been awarded.

For the 15th year in a row, the French edition of PIDA - Packaging Impact Design Award, was held in Reims, and this year, sustainability and recycling were in focus. The contesting design students from France and Germany presented creative and fun ideas on how to package clothes, accessories and beauty products in a more environmentally friendly way. And the design that had the best concept according to the jury, was Save the bees, created by students from Hochschule der Medien, in Stuttgart.

During the World of Wipes in Atlanta, the Bavarian manufacturer of viscose speciality fibres has been presented with the World of Wipes Innovation Award. The award recognizes the newly developed Danufil^® QR fibre, a positively charged viscose fibre, that was specifically designed for use in disinfectant wipes: Danufil^® QR is said to be the only viscose fibre worldwide that – in contrast to standard viscose fibres – binds less than 10% of “quats” (quarternary ammonium compounds), so that this common disinfectant can release its intended effect in the wipe.

Automaker Porsche is leveraging the benefits of organic materials in automotive manufacturing applications. The new 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport features body parts made of natural-fiber composite materials developed in the Application Center for Wood Fiber Research HOFZET, which is part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wood Research, Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institut WKI, together with the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites IfBB of Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts.