Holmen Hallsta Restarts PM 11 After Fire, TMP Line Overhaul
Holmen has now restarted PM 11 at its Hallsta mill in Sweden. The PM remained shutdown after a fire on Nov. 20, 2015. The company said that PM 11 was up and running on Feb. 26, 2016, producing uncoated magazine and catalog paper after it had been down for 99 days.
Holmen said it can now start scheduling customer production for fresh fiber-based magazine paper, Holmen XLNT Elite, XLNT Classic, and Holmen View on PM 11.
Daniel Peltonen, mill manager at Hallsta, according to an EUWID Industry Report (Gernsbach, Germany), said that the rebuild had not been an easy task. However, the mill (pictured below) was producing paper again earlier than expected. Currently pulp production is running at approximately 75% and is expected to return to full output after the restart of the fourth and final refiner, scheduled for the end of March.
According to a report summarizing the incident related to the restart this week by Print Week, (London, U.K.), the fire took place in the mill area of the pulp factory in the north of the factory site. There were no injuries or stock damages and the two paper machines at the mill were not affected. However, other manufacturing and electricity equipment were damaged.
An investigation into the cause of the incident showed that the fire arose next to a rotating axle, the heat from which caused smoldering that rapidly spread. Book paper machine PM 12 was restarted in December. The firm had previously estimated that the machine, which has an annual capacity of 330,000 metric tons, would be out of action until mid-March.
"The clean-up and repair has been going well--we are producing paper again, and earlier than expected, thanks to our dedicated team that has been working 24/7 ever since the fire started," said Hallsta Mill Manager Daniel Peltonen.
Pulp production is currently running at around 75%. Full production capacity will be resumed once the fourth and final refiner line is restarted at the end of March.
"The rebuild of our TMP plant has not been an easy task. But following hard work, Hallsta is now an even better paper mill," said Peltonen.
Holmen manufactures paperboard, printing paper, and sawn timber and runs forestry and energy production operations. The group has around 3,400 staff, and in 2014 its net sales were EUR 1.33 billion.
According to Wood Business Forum (Provo, Utah., USA), current pulp production at the facility is now running at approximately 75% utilization. To reach full production capacity, Holmen needs to restart the fourth and final refiner line. This final stage of the repair-rebuild process is scheduled for no later than the end of this month.
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