Norske Skog, Rotocart End Tissue JV at Bruck, but Plans Still on for Tissue Line

Norske Skog, Norway, and tissue producer Rotocart, Italy, will not pursue the tissue joint venture project at the Norske Skog Bruck mill in Austria, as announced in July 2015. Norske Skog said that the partnership was dissolved as it did not develop as intended, according to a report by EUWID Pulp and Paper. 

 

Norske Skog, however, is sticking to its plans to establish a tissue production unit at the Bruck mill. 

"Norske Skog is currently revisiting discussions with alternative partners and expects to conclude within a short timeframe. The Bruck mill is ideally located for tissue production in an area close to key markets and benefits from onsite industrial infrastructure, synergies with large-scale paper production, and an experienced local management team," the company was quoted in the EUWID report. 

 

 

The company added that all permits for the tissue project were in place and that the groundwork was already completed, but that the timeline for the project had to be extended from spring 2017 to year-end 2017, according to EUWID.  

Since last year, Norske Skog has had the green light from the Department of Environment and Land Planning in the Austrian state of Styria to build a production plant for tissue paper at the Bruck mill with a capacity of 69,000 metric tpy. The company puts the total cost for the tissue conversion project at EUR 80 million. 

Norske Skog also operates a 275,000 metric tpy LWC paper machine at the Bruck site. The PM 4, however, is not part of the company's strategic review and tissue conversion project in Austria, EUWID noted in an earlier report. 

Upon completion of the tissue project, the 125 000 tpy PM 3 newsprint machine at the Bruck mill will be closed.