The Toulouse Commercial Court has decided to postpone the hearing scheduled today June 17 to July 6. Here is the press release received from Fibre Excellence:
Metsä Group’s impact on the Finnish economy is significant: the company’s value-added impact amounts to approximately EUR 3.4 billion per year, and its operations employ more than 30,000 people in Finland. The figures are based on an assessment by KPMG Oy Ab of Metsä’s economic impact in 2023–2025.
Valmet launches the world’s first fully non-contact, nuclear-free quality control system (QCS) for tissue production. This solution delivers real-time insight into key tissue properties without physically touching the sheet. By eliminating contact and radioactive sources, the system enhances operational safety, reduces web break risks, and enables more stable and efficient production.
Time is running out. When questioned by MPs during this week’s Question Time, the French Minister for Industry, Sébastien Martin, expressed his regret at the absence of “an industrial investor” in the sole bid to take over Fibre Excellence (FE). This bid is being led by the current management team, headed by Jean-François Guillot. In a Press Release received this Friday, June 12, and which we are publishing in full, FE outlines its perspective on the situation. The Toulouse Commercial Court is scheduled to rule on the site's future on June 17.
Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget SCA (publ) on May 8, 2018 established a Medium Term Note program (MTN) with a loan framework amounting to SEK 8 billion. In connection with the annual update in 2026, SCA’s Board of Directors has resolved to increase the borrowing limit from SEK 8 billion to SEK 12 billion to ensure flexibility and diversification in the financing.
Proposals to reduce forestry activity and increase protected forest areas have become an important part of the European forestry debate. However, according to a new impact assessment, such measures risk leading to lower production, tens of thousands of lost jobs, and higher societal costs – without delivering any climate benefits.
The Navigator Company has announced the launch of gCELL, a new brand for its pulp portfolio, aligned with the differentiation and value creation it brings to the global pulp market. With gCELL, Navigator brings its pulp business under a unified and distinctive identity rooted in more than 70 years of expertise in Eucalyptus globulus pulp production.
Based on documented results at Södra Värö, Södra has decided to scale Viking Analytics’ AI platform, MultiViz, across the entire group. The framework agreement covers 3,650 sensors deployed across the mills in Värö, Mörrum, and Mönsterås, marking the next step in Södra’s commitment to data-driven, proactive maintenance.
22 new projects across Finland focusing on strengthening biodiversity and ecological restoration were selected for Metsä Group’s Funding programme for nature projects. A total of EUR 300 000 was granted. This year, several accepted projects combined concrete nature management measures, environmental education, and community involvement.
Al Ahalia Hospital recently organized a Beat the Heat Awareness Campaign, with Crown Paper Mill (CPM) and Ittihad Paper Mill (IPM) participating as special invitees.
Fastmarkets, the leading price reporting agency for commodities market pricing, news, and analysis, has named Cristián Infante of Arauco as Latin America CEO of the Year 2026. The award will be presented during the annual Fastmarkets Forest Products Latin America Conference, taking place in Brazil from August 10–12.
The WEPA Group and the start-up Epyr have inaugurated France’s first thermal energy storage unit dedicated to the electrification of industrial heat at the WEPA site in Troyes. The inauguration was also attended by François Baroin, Mayor of Troyes and President of Troyes Champagne Métropole.
The prestigious “A” rating in the 2025 Supplier Engagement Assessment (SEA) recognizes the effectiveness of the Group’s supply chain decarbonization strategies
ABTCP (Brazilian Pulp and Paper Technical Association) in partnership with IPEF (Institute for ForestResearch and Studies), and TAPPI (Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry), will host ABTCP 2026 – 58th Pulp and Paper International Congress and Exhibition, from October 6 to 8 in São Paulo, at the Transamerica Expo Center.
Valmet’s long-time customer Lenzing AG, an Austrian global leader in dissolving wood pulp and regenerated cellulose fibers, is upgrading their Lenzing production site by incorporating a complete Valmet DNAe Distributed Control System (DCS) to the 1K6 gas boiler. The new system will replace an obsolete third-party system, enabling state-of-the-art DNAe technology with long-term availability, highest cybersecurity standards, improved reliability, and future-ready platform capabilities. As a mission-critical solution, it ensures continued safe, secure, and high-performance plant operations.
Valmet introduces the Valmet DNAe Optimization Suite, a scalable software suite of optimization applications designed to improve plant performance and operational efficiency. It can be delivered to process plants using control systems supplied by Valmet as well as those from other providers.
The IBS Paper Performance Group, technology leader in paper machine optimization, has successfully started up a traversing FabriCare ultra-high-pressure cleaning system on a packaging paper machine. Following a comprehensive audit of the vacuum systems, the existing standard wire suction system was replaced with FabriCare. This measure eliminated the need for a 180 kW vacuum pump entirely, including the associated maintenance and spare part costs. The result: enormous energy savings of 1.44 GWh per year - while maintaining or even improving product quality and a return on investment in just a few months.
The management of the Fibre Excellence (FE) group submitted a takeover bid to the Toulouse Commercial Court on June 1. The company has been under court-ordered receivership since April 27. "Having received no external offers to date, the company has decided to commit itself both to its employees and to the long-term viability of the wood and paper industry, as well as to ensuring France's sovereignty over a product as essential as pulp. This offer aims to build a sustainable solution for the operations of all its industrial and forestry entities. Convinced of the future of combined pulp and power production in France, management aims to ensure the profitability necessary to preserve the group, which contributes to the local economy, employs nearly 700 people, and generates some 10,000 indirect jobs in the forestry-wood-paper sector,” explains the press release received this afternoon.
Suzano, the world’s largest pulp producer, will invest R$25 million to enhance operations at its second mill in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, by installing a new oxidized white liquor (OWL) plant. Expected to begin operating in May, the new plant will boost production efficiency and reduce raw material consumption.
Informa has confirmed that Tissue World Istanbul will return for 2026, taking place on 18–19 November at the Istanbul Congress Center, following a well-received edition in 2024.
Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, has once again been awarded the highest Platinum rating by EcoVadis. The company ranks among the top one percent of companies assessed globally in the pulp, paper and board industry – a position it has held since 2019.
Metsä Group marked the inauguration of its expanded and modernised tissue paper mill in Mariestad, Sweden, on 26 May. The opening ceremony was conducted by external representatives together with Metsä Group and Metsä Tissue leadership.
Valmet has been selected by Sappi Southern Africa to deliver a full EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) package for the replacement of recovery boiler components at the Saiccor Mill in South Africa. This upgrade of critical boiler parts will improve operational safety, reduce the risk of unplanned downtime and improve overall reliability of the mill.
Valmet will deliver a new stationary lime cooler for Heinzel Pöls pulp mill in Austria. The new cooler significantly improves the lime kiln’s energy efficiency compared to the existing rotary cooler, reduces maintenance needs, and enables the capacity increase of the existing lime kiln.
