Bracell Adopts the Use of a 100% Electric Truck for Pulp Transport

Feb. 24, 2023 – Brazilian pulp producer Bracell has started the year with an innovative project — the use of an electric truck to transport pulp.

According to Bracell, the initiative is unprecedented in this type of operation with heavy vehicles (trucks weighing more than 40 tons) and it is estimated that the company will avoid the emission of 132,000 kg of CO2eq per year from a single truck. In this way, the company reinforces its commitment to sustainable development in all its operations, processes and activities and expands its actions aimed at sustainability also to the logistical stage of the production chain, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions and the fight against changes in weather.

The electric truck will transport pulp on the stretch between the plant, located in Lençóis Paulista (Central West region of the state of São Paulo) and the Intermodal Terminal in Pederneiras (São Paulo), using the Juliano Lorenzetti (LEP-060), Osni Mateus (SP-261) highways up to the access road municipality, in Pederneiras.

In the pilot project, the Bracell hopes to understand the performance of the electric motor in uphill stretches with load, time and necessary amounts of charging and maintenance, in addition to economic and environmental gains.

Alberto Pagano, head of Supply Chain at Bracell, pointed out that another differential of the vehicle will be the use of renewable energy, produced by the company itself, to recharge the truck’s batteries.

“It is a pilot project that reiterates the company’s commitment to the sustainability of the business.” Pagano said. The use of the vehicle brings benefits for the climate and also for the entire community.”

With headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, Bracell has a production capacity of 500,000 tons of special soluble cellulose per year in Bahia and 250,000 tons of kraft pulp per year in São Paulo.

SOURCE: Bracell

Metsä Board Concludes Logistics Agreements for Kemi Board Mill in Finland

Feb. 2, 2023 - Metsä Board has concluded a logistics agreement with Kuljetusliike Kalevi Huhtala Oy for transport between the Kemi board mill and Ajos harbour, in Kemi. All exports from the Kemi board mill will be centralised in Ajos.

"Efficient export logistics is a key factor in paperboard production. We require efficient and low-emission solutions from our chosen partners in logistics," says Timo Ahonen, VP, Kemi Board mill.

The signed agreement is a continuation of an agreement signed earlier by Metsä Group for the transportation of products from the bioproduct mill under construction in Kemi, and has a part in ensuring efficient and environmentally friendly logistics solutions between Metsä Group's Kemi integrated mill and the Ajos harbour. Transport under the contract will start on 1.4.2023.

About Kemi Board Mill

The Kemi board mill is located on the shores of the Bothnian Sea, in the Kemijoki delta. The mill is a leading manufacturer of premium white-top kraftliners, which are used as surface liners in consumer, retail and shelf-ready corrugated packaging. The mill has the capacity to produce 425,000 tonnes per year of kraftliner.

The pulp and energy required by the mill is supplied by Metsä Fibre's pulp mill on the same site. The strong synergies of the integrate will also support the development of the mill in the future. An ongoing development program will increase the annual krafliner capacity by approximately 40,000 tonnes. A Metsä Fibre bioproduct mill is being built on the site with start-up expected in 2023.

SOURCE: Metsä Board

Spotlight: Domtar’s Supply Chain & Transportation Logistics

Jan. 18, 2023 (Domtar - Industry Insights) - Many aspects of business changed when the global COVID-19 pandemic began almost three years ago — perhaps none more than supply chain and transportation logistics.

Our supply chain and transportation logistics professionals acted with agility and innovation to find new ways to get our customers their pulp products when every mode of transportation was bogged down, slowing the movement of goods throughout the world.

At Domtar, the shortage of vessel space, containers, rail cars and over-the-road trucks during and after the pandemic created new shipping challenges. Goods that couldn’t be shipped right away needed to be stored. At times, we held more than 100,000 tons of backlogged pulp product at our mills waiting to be exported.

Domtar Transportation Director Debbie Campbell and her team knew they had to think differently to get that product to customers.

In the last six months alone, the team reduced outstanding pulp backlog by more than 80 percent, restoring Domtar’s inventory back to pre-pandemic levels and, more importantly, getting product to customers.

“Capacity slowly started flowing again when consumers returned to spending their money on travel and services and less on material goods. It’s finally starting to realign with demand,” Campbell says. “But we had to put a lot of new processes in place to get through the excess pulp inventory that built up.”

The lessons learned through the pandemic have made our shipping processes more efficient going forward.

“Inventory reduction was key,” says Greg Linscott, pulp operations vice president. “Our customers needed product, and we needed to be able to get it to them. The transportation and logistics team did a great job working directly with our mill teams to find new ways to move product and reduce inventory backlogs.”

Thinking outside the (container) box at Plymouth

Between 85 and 90 percent of fluff pulp made at our Plymouth, North Carolina, mill is shipped overseas.

Pre-pandemic, Plymouth was considered the least complex mill from which to ship fluff pulp to customers overseas because of its nearness to the Port of Norfolk in Virginia. But during the pandemic, it was harder to secure space on vessels than ever.

Without reliable access to containers and vessels, Domtar could no longer rely on one port to accommodate its shipments.

Working directly with supply chain and transportation logistics professionals at the mill, as well as suppliers, the transportation team sought other options. They secured temporary warehouse space near alternate ports in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia. With product located at several different ports, the team could act quickly to get it on ships when containers came available, greatly increasing the likelihood of product reaching customers in a timely manner.

In unique cases the team used break-bulk freight to ship pulp to European customers. Instead of being loaded on the top of a ship in a container, the pulp is instead secured in the hull of the ship. When available, break-bulk ships are more versatile than container ships because they use different loading and off-loading ports.

Decoupling mill and port schedules at Marlboro

The Marlboro Mill in South Carolina faced some similar challenges. Before the pandemic, baled pulp bound to overseas customers from Marlboro was loaded into shipping containers, then trucked to port in Charleston.

But because of increasing variability in shipping schedules and port congestion, the process wasn’t meeting our needs. It became cumbersome to constantly schedule and reschedule shipments based on vessel availability. To eliminate the need to ship product only when vessels were available, the team partnered with a container depot near the port so that product could be shipped to the depot ahead of time. From there, our partners could load it into containers and take it to port when the vessel arrived.

“The process improvements we put in place because of the pandemic are things we never needed to think about before,” Campbell says. “But now that they’re a part of our normal operating procedure, we’re better prepared to handle supply chain disruptions that might happen in the future.”

SOURCE: Domtar

Canfor Pulp to Permanently Close Kraft Pulp Line at Prince George Mill

Jan. 12, 2023 - Following extensive analysis of its operating footprint and the long-term supply of economic residual fibre, Canfor Pulp Products is announcing the decision to permanently close the pulp line at its Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill located in British Columbia, Canada.

The closure of the pulp line will result in a reduction of 280,000 tonnes per year of market kraft pulp.

Canfor pulp said the Specialty Paper facility at the site will continue to operate.

"In recent years, several sawmills have permanently closed in the Prince George region due to reductions in the allowable annual cut and challenges accessing cost-competitive fibre," explained Kevin Edgson, President and CEO of Canfor Pulp. "This has had a material impact on the availability of residual fibre for our pulp facilities and we need to right-size our operating platform. As a result, we have made the very difficult decision to shut down the pulp line at Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill and will continue to operate the Specialty Paper facility."

Over the next few months, Canfor Pulp will be following an orderly wind-down process. The pulp line is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2023 and is anticipated to impact approximately 300 positions across the organization by the end of the year.

"We greatly appreciate our valued team members who have been helping to navigate a very challenging business environment," Edgson said. "We understand and regret the impact today's announcement has on our employees, their families, the businesses that support our operations, and the local community. We will be working in the weeks and months ahead to support our employees through this transition."

Canfor Pulp Products is a leading global supplier of pulp and paper products with operations in the central interior of British Columbia. Canfor Pulp owns and operates three mills in Prince George, BC with a total capacity of 1.1 million tonnes of Premium Reinforcing Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft ("NBSK") Pulp and 140,000 tonnes of kraft paper, as well as one mill in Taylor, BC with an annual production capacity of 230,000 tonnes of Bleached Chemi-Thermo Mechanical Pulp ("BCTMP").

SOURCE: Canfor Pulp Products Inc.