Stora Enso has decided to permanently close its US-based Virdia operations during 2021. Virdia was acquired in 2014 and has focused on conversion of cellulosic biomass from sugar cane bagasse into refined sugars. The operations have consisted of a research centre in Danville, Virginia and a demo plant in Raceland, Louisiana, which will both be closed. The closure is in line with Stora Enso’s strategic choices in R&D to drive future growth and value creation from forest-based materials. Furthermore, today, the company’s innovation work focuses considerably more on applications further down the value chain instead of being a raw material supplier. There will be a stepwise process for discontinuing the operations and closing the sites during 2021. The employee impact will be approximately 65 Stora Enso employees and 18 contractors.

After several months of laboratory work by the Research and Development team in Bordeaux France, Tembec has developed a very high viscosity cellulose grade. Just days ago, the production of this new grade, called Biofloc XV20, took place at the Tartas Specialty Cellulose mill in France. It is a tremendous success because a new world record for viscosity of a wood pulp was achieved. Tembec, the world leader in specialty cellulose for use in the production of cellulose ethers, responded to the needs of its main customers. “This new product can now compete directly with cotton linter pulp and opens new opportunities for our customers,” said Christian Ribeyrolle, Executive Vice President of the Specialty Cellulose Group. “Our customers in this segment needed a replacement for cotton linter pulp by a product which is less affected by market cycles but is of equivalent quality. Biofloc XV20 is now part of our product portfolio.” Click Read More below for additional detail.

Effective with shipments on or after October 11, 2017, pricing will increase approximately 6% on the following grades: Finch Commercial Printing Papers: Finch 94 Rolls; Finch Offset Rolls & Finch Converting Papers: Finch Reply Postcard, 7 pt. and 9 pt. Rolls; Finch ThruPut Wove Rolls; Finch Forms Bond; Finch MOCR Laser; Finch Engineering Bond; Finch CAD Inkjet Bond & Finch Office Papers: Finch Premium Multipurpose; Finch Multipurpose; Finch Copy; All private-label brands; General White Box. All standard upcharges apply and all customer-specific inventory programs will increase with shipments on or after October 11, 2017.