Projects

VAXJO, Sweden, Nov. 5, 2015 (Press Release) -Södra has learned many valuable lessons from the severe storms in recent years. This experience and knowledge has now been harnessed in new management instructions to reduce future storm damage to forests. Thinning at lower heights and earlier final harvesting for spruce-dominated stands are two of the important changes.

Carefully designed measures aimed at creating stability in the forest will reduce the risk of storm damage. Pre-commercial thinning at the right time, for example, is key to promoting moderate stand density. The timing of the first thinning operation is also crucial to a stand's future stability and storm resistance.

"If thinning in a spruce-dominated stand starts when trees are 12-14 metres high, ends when they measure 20-22 metres and does not remove more than 30-35 percent of the surface area, the risk of future storm damage to the stand will be reduced," says Göran Örlander, Head of the Silviculture Department at Södra.

"Immediately after thinning, the stability of the remaining trees will deteriorate, but eventually improve. Södra's view is that thinning is necessary to increase forest value, and a measure that can be implemented without any major risk of storm damage. However, mature high forest should not be thinned, as this will increase the risk of storm damage, and older forests takes longer to stabilise than young forests."

Exposed areas are at greatest risk of storm damage, such as west-facing slopes and sites adjacent to lakes and fields. Great care should therefore be taken when thinning buffer zones, and they should never be thinned when the trees have grown high. Several stands should never be thinned at the same time.

Since most storms arrive after defoliation, most storm damage occurs in softwood forests that are mature and high. Although summer storms are relatively rare, they can also cause severe damage in hardwood forests.

"To reduce the extent of storm damage, we now recommend that spruce-dominated stands be harvested 10-15 years earlier than our recommendations prior to Cyclone Gudrun, i.e. when trees have reached a maximum height of 26-28 metres."

In an effort to reduce storm damage to forests, Södra continuously garners new knowledge, and develops new methods and techniques in a range of areas.

"We work to develop forest management, for example, by preventing the spread of root rot and reducing soil damage. Combined with the development of new reproductive material, which makes root systems more symmetrical, for example, this will improve the storm-resistance of trees in the future," says Göran Örlander.

HELSINKI, Nov. 16, 2015 (Press Release) -The European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme EMAS celebrated its 20th anniversary on 13th November by organising a high level conference at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. The conference highlighted the best practice approaches to environmental management and the experiences of leading EMAS organisations.

UPM is among the companies who have been registering under the EMAS since it was established.

"UPM pulp and paper mills started with EMAS registration soon after the scheme was established, and has been persistent with registration ever since. In 2012 and 2013 UPM extended its EMAS registration to its mills outside Europe, i.e. to UPM Fray Bentos pulp mill in Uruguay and UPM Changshu paper mill in China. On global scale, there are only two companies who have registered their mills outside Europe in the EMAS," says Sami Lundgren, Director, Ecolabels and Reporting in Frankfurt.

"EMAS has helped thousands of organisations since its inception in 1995. Users have become more resource-efficient, consumed energy more wisely, saved on costs and reduced their environmental impacts at the same time. Its environmental reporting requirement has meant registered organisations are among the most transparent in the world, as regards to environmental data," says Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

"UPM is very committed to improve its environmental performance and to disclose openly information on its impacts on environment, society and economy," says Ulla-Riitta Unkuri, Vice President, Stakeholder Relations, UPM Paper ENA.

"Transparency and openness towards stakeholders are an essential part of UPM's corporate responsibility worldwide. The global EMAS registration and the third-party verified reporting promote continuous improvement in all of our operations," Unkuri says.

In addition to corporate EMAS statement and the paper and pulp mill specific supplements, UPM provides comprehensive environmental data assured by third parties on corporate, mill and on a single product's level. Ecolabelled products, product declarations and certified operations are the proof for UPM's responsibility and transparency.

UPM

Through the renewing of the bio and forest industries, UPM is building a sustainable future across six business areas: UPM Biorefining, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Paper Asia, UPM Paper Europe and North America and UPM Plywood. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. We serve our customers worldwide. The group employs around 20,000 people and its annual sales are approximately EUR 10 billion. UPM shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

SETUBAL, Portugal, (Press Release) The Portucel Soporcel group, Portugal's third largest exporter and the leading European manufacturer of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper, today officially opened two of it latest capital projects at its industrial complexes in Cacia and Vila Velha de Ródão, representing total investment of € 95.3 million, and also announced plans to invest a further € 120 million through to 2017, in Cacia, on a new tissue paper production line.

This array of projects - joined by others, such as the vertically integrated forestry project in Mozambique, with a value of € 2.1 billion euros, and the construction of a pellets factory in the US, representing around € 100 million - is part of plans drawn up by the Portucel Soporcel group to expand and diversify its business over the next few years, in pursuit of the goal of sustained growth for this increasingly important multinational with its roots in Portugal.

20% more pulp in Cacia

This morning, the Cacia industrial complex officially opened the extension to its pulp mill, the result of an investment project worth € 56.3 million which is set to boost the Group's annual exports to more than 120 countries by a further € 30 million.

This capital project has increased the production capacity at the mill by 20%, from 294 to 353 thousand tons of paper pulp per annum, accompanied by an increase in production of renewable energy of around 9%, to a total of 336.7 MW/year.

The new extension to the mill has created a further fifteen direct jobs, and potentially generated around 290 indirect jobs, in particular in the forestry industry and in port logistics and road haulage sectors. As many as 1520 external workers were recruited during the construction period.

Significantly, the changes at the Cacia mill have incorporated the latest industrial and environmental technology, and innovative measures have been adopted to improve environmental performance, including the collection, processing and incineration of malodorous gases (17 km of piping are used to collect and treat these gases), as well as the fitting of a new burner in the existing lime kiln, the installation of an electrofilter for the new lime kiln and partial substitution of the use of fuel oil by natural gas in the lime kilns. In terms of specific achievements, the project has cut atmospheric emissions of malodorous gases from the production process and allowed water from the production process to be reused, thanks to a new cooling tower, resulting in a significant reduction in consumption.

The work on building the new facilities and installing the new equipment all took place with the Cacia mill in full operation, except for the months from January to June this year, when work had to be carried out on the existing equipment, and to integrate the new equipment into the existing system.

This project has made it possible to optimise performance at the Cacia mill, helping to improve reliability in the mill facilities and to eliminate bottlenecks in certain production areas.

AMS doubles output

In the afternoon, AMS officially opened its new tissue paper production line at its plant in Vila Velha de Ródão, which was taken over by the Portucel Soporcel group at the start of this year. This expansion project involved investment of € 39 million and has created 70 new direct jobs, doubling the production capacity of the plant, which is now set to increase exports by around 40% and EBITDA by 72%.

Purchasing around 40% its supplies from local companies, the new mill has increased its factory floor space from 40,000 m2 to 70,000 m2 and is fitted with the latest environmental technologies which will allow it to cut CO2 emissions by 22,000 tons/year.

With this new production line in Vila Velha de Ródão, the Portucel Soporcel group can now assert itself as one of Europe's most competitive manufacturers in the tissue market, a position it intends to improve further through its plans (as mentioned above) for investing a further € 120 million in a new production unit in Cacia, due to start up in 2017, which will have rated annual capacity of 70 thousand tons, incorporating equivalent finishing capacity.

About the Portucel Soporcel group

The Portucel Soporcel group is Portugal's third leading exporter, and the exporter generating the highest level of national value added. The Group accounts for approximately 1% of Portugal's GDP, around 3% of the country's total exports of goods, close to 8% of all containerized cargo and 7% of all containerized and conventional cargo exported through Portuguese ports.

In 2014, the Portucel Soporcel group set a new record for paper output, increasing the sales volume by 3% to over 1,564 thousand tons, allowing the Group to achieve growth in turnover to € 1,542.3 million.

Having consolidated its position as the leading European manufacturer, and the sixth largest in the world, of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper, the Group is also Europe's top producer of BEKP (Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp), and the fifth largest in the world.

The Group has successfully pursued a strategy of innovation and development of its own brands, which today account for 62% of sales of manufactured products. Special mention should be made of the Navigator brand, the world's best-selling product in the premium office paper segment.

The Group sells its products to 127 countries over five continents, with a special focus on Europe and the US, giving it the largest export base of any Portuguese company.

As a vertically integrated forestry group with its own forestry research institute, it leads the world in the genetic improvement of the Eucalyptus globulus. It manages vast tracts of forest in Portugal certified under the FSC® and PEFCTMsystems (FSC license C010852 and PEFC license 13-23-001), and boasts annual production capacity for 1.6 million tons of paper, 1.4 million tons of pulp (of which 1.1 million is integrated into paper) and power generation of 2.5 TWh, adding up to annual turnover approximately of approximately 1.5 billion euros.

The Group operates one of Europe's largest nurseries for forestry plants, with annual production capacity of approximately 12 million certified plants of various species, destined for use in renewing Portugal's woodlands.

As part of its strategy for international expansion, the Group recently acquired a tissue paper manufacturer - AMS - and is implementing a major vertically integrated forestry project in Mozambique, as well as a new pellets factory in the US.