Hallsta

A mill with a new structure.“Here would be good.” After some searching for the ideal location, the management of Holmens Bruk made their choice. Here, in northern Roslagen, right at the head of Edeboviken, with a sheltered harbour, close to the large spruce forests of central and northern Sweden, is where the new mill would be built. With good access to fresh water from the river Skeboån. Close to the large new electricity supply networks and hydroelectric facilities in Dalälven. Close to Stockholm and Uppsala. The mill was completed in 1915.

Circumstances have changed over the years, which means that this geographical location is no longer quite as good as it once was. Competition for raw materials is tough, and the price of spruce timber, transport and electricity is increasing dramatically. Holmen Paper has therefore decided to reduce the proportion of standard newsprint it produces, which means that production of this grade of paper has ceased completely at Hallsta. An older paper machine and the recycled paper line have been closed down and Hallsta has now got a new structure that will be more competitive in the future.

A versatile specialist.

With three paper machines and a broad product range, Hallsta represents an unusually versatile paper mill. At the same time, production is relatively specialised. It involves wood-containing printing paper in various grades: machine finished magazine paper, super calendered magazine paper and book paper. The basis weights vary from 45 to 80 g/m². Production is heading in the direction of an increased proportion of specialist grades.

The majority of the paper from Hallsta is manufactured using a mechanical pulping process, unlike so-called

“fine paper”, which is manufactured from chemical and bleached paper pulp using a boiling process. The wood raw material at Hallsta is spruce. The mill uses a certain proportion of purchased sulphate pulp. This means that Hallsta’s paper grades are best for use in products printed in large volumes and runs with a short to medium life expectancy.

The total manufacturing capacity amounts to 700,000 tonnes.

This is what we do.

Pages 4-5 Holmen Paper Hallsta

Hallsta, PM11, at 6.32

Linnea Boricic takes a sample from a large tambour reel of paper. The paper is then checked before being shipped off to the customer to become supplements, magazines, direct advertising or books.

Holmen Paper Hallsta Pages 8-9

Two different raw fibre materials. Three separate production lines.

The most important raw material in the paper from Hallsta is fresh sprucewood from the nearby forests. A small proportion of the wood required is imported. The part of the tree that is used for pulp production and paper is primarily the weaker sections of the trunk, while the lower, thicker sections become sawn timber. A large proportion of the wood raw material also comes from thinning and saw mill chippings.

The majority of the spruce raw material is processed in three production lines using a mechanical process as per the TMP method (Thermo-Mechanical Pulp). The thermo-mechanical process provides a high wood yield, 98%, but also requires a great deal of electricity for breaking down the chips and processing the fibres between the refiners’ grinding plates. Some of the spruce raw material consists of groundwood pulp where the wood is wet-ground to a very fine consistency in five large chain grinders. The groundwood pulp is filtered, cleaned, drained and bleached. A small proportion of chlorine-free chemical sulphate pulp is purchased and mixed in to increase the strength properties of the mechanical pulp.

By the time the paper pulp reaches the paper machines it has been thinned down by water and only contains around 1% fibres. From the head box, the thin pulp mixture is spread out on the machine’s screen cloth in the wire section. The water is filtered away and the fibres begin to form a sheet of paper, which is conveyed into the press section. Even more water is squeezed out here before the paper web continues into the machine’s long drying section. After having passed through a large number of steam-heated drying cylinders, it is rolled on to a large so-called tambour. Depending on which paper machine it is produced by, the paper may also be surface-treated as super calender or soft calender.

The paper now has a dry content of around 90% and the entire manufacturing process takes slightly more than 10 seconds. The large roll is conveyed to the paper machine winders for rewinding and cutting to the required customer format. Hallsta’s paper machines are designated PM3, PM11 and PM12.

This is how we do it.

Hallsta, PM11, at 10.32

PM11 is an ultra-modern paper machine that requires highly-skilled personnel. The team are very close-knit and are jointly responsible for achieving both quality targets and production targets.

Do you think that the number of supplements in evening papers has increased in recent years? You are quite right. This type of printed matter has just grown and grown in recent times. And it is in this particular field that Hallsta is at the very forefront as a paper supplier, in terms of both capacity and quality.

Paper from Hallsta is characterised by its brightness and fine colour reproduction. This makes it ideal for printed matter where it is essential to supply pro-motional pictures with emotional content. The wide

range of products allows customers a huge scope for choosing the specific grade to suit them, their printing presses and their customers best.

Product development at Hallsta often takes place in close collaboration with customers, with new mark-eting and newspaper projects often requiring new grades. An additional strength at Holmen Paper is that we can offer our customers complete solutions with several different paper grades from different mills.

Pages 12-13 Holmen Paper Hallsta

Supplements, advertising, magazines and book paper.

Here’s what our paper is used for.

Hallsta, loading, at 13.54

Most of the paper that is exported leaves Hallsta on our own vessels. TIn wintertime, icebreakers keep the harbour in Edeboviken free of ice.

Sustainability and responsibility. Those are two of the most important guiding stars in Holmen Paper’s long-term strategy for the company. We are here to stay, as manufacturer and supplier, and see it as our clear responsibility to continuously reduce the effect of the operation on the environment. It is self-evident to us that we must follow all the applicable rules and regulations of the relevant authorities. At the same time, we try hard to stay one step ahead when it comes to finding new ways of cutting emissions and reducing water and energy consumption to levels that are technically and economically feasible in an industry as competitive as the international paper industry.

Naturally, we also have a vested interest in taking responsibility for the environment. Many of us who work in Hallsta also live in the immediate area. We pick berries, hunt, go swimming, go canoeing and walk our dogs in the beautiful Roslagen countryside,

close to the forest and the sea. We want to feel good and thrive, so it’s natural for us to serve as a role model on these issues.

Paper from Hallsta contains a lot of wood fibre, is recyclable and thus an important supply source of fibres that have not been circulated too long in the waste paper system. The process water used in manufacturing is cleaned in three stages: mechanically, biologically and chemically, before being discharged into Edeboviken. The sludge that is separated from the water is used as fuel. The ash is dumped or used as filler in road building.

The mill’s environmental management system has been certified as per ISO 14001 since 1999, and the energy management system as per SS 627750 since 2006. During 2007, production was certified under FSC and PEFC, which means that production fibres can be traced through the production process.

With long-term responsibility for the world around us.

Pages 16-17 Holmen Paper Hallsta

Here’s how we think.

Hallsta, purification plant 3.20 pm

The waste water is cleaned in three stages: mechanically – removing bark, sticks, fibres and dirt; biologically – the biological purification is performed by microorganisms; and chemically – phosphorus is removed from the water. All sludge from the water purification process is drained and incinerated to create energy.

Holmen Paper Hallsta Pages 20-21

Respect and responsibility for each other.

Here’s how we think.

At Holmen Paper we show each other mutual respect. We rely on each other. We take responsibility and take a stand when required. We care about each other – and about our customers. Our basic values include commitment, courage, customer orientation and being professional in everything we do.

Our employees have the right to expect participation, authority and short decision-making channels. This in turn means that we feel proud and pleased when things

go well for our team, the machine, the paper mill and the entire company.

Holmen Paper’s parent company Holmen AB is a member of both the Swedish and international UN-controlled organisation Global Compact. As a member, companies must live up to ten basic principles relating to everything from respect for human rights to working conditions, freedom of association, the environment and dissociating oneself from corruption.

Hallsta, wood line, at 16.53

Wood processing at a paper mill has always been associated with a noisy environment. Hallsta is showing the way forward with its new wood line, offering rational, computerized wood processing in a good and pleasant working environment.

Pages 24-25 Holmen Paper Hallsta

Facts about Holmen Paper HallstaCompany started 1915

No. of employees 770

Production capacity/year Approx. 700 000 tonnes

Substance range 45–70 g/m²

Brands Holmen Plus, Holmen XLNT, Holmen Premium and Holmen Book

Machines Commissioned Trimmed width Main production

PM3 1963 6,600 mm SC paper

PM11 2002 8,600 mm MF Magazine

PM12 1974 8,500 mm Book paper

Certification ISO 9001 quality management (1996) ISO 14001 environmental management (1999) SS 627750 energy management (2006) FSC Environmental certification (2007) PEFC Environmental certification (2007)

Raw materials

Key markets

Method of delivery

Thermo- mechanical pulp (TMP)

Germany

Rail

Poland

Sweden

The NetherlandsItaly

UK

Norway

Rest of Europe

Oversea

Filler

Purchased sulphate pulp

Groundwood pulp

Lorry

Vessel

Holmen Paper ABHolmen Paper is one of Europe’s leading producers of newsprint and magazine paper. Two manufacturing mills in Sweden: Braviken (at Bråviken near Norrköping), Hallsta (at Hallstavik in northern Roslagen). And one mill in Madrid (Spain). Holmen Paper has circa 2,200 employees and a turnover of about SEK 10 billion.

Read more at www.holmenpaper.com

Holmen ABHolmen Paper is part of the Holmen Group, a forest industry concern with about 4,800 employees and a turnover of almost SEK 20 billion.

As well as Holmen Paper, Holmen AB includes Iggesund Paper board (which manufactures paperboard for packaging and graphic purposes), Holmen Timber (which produces sawn timber products), Holmen Skog (which is responsible for timber supply and management of the company’s forests) and finally Holmen Energi (which is responsible for electrical power supply to the company’s Swedish facilities and the group’s own hydro electric power installations). Holmen AB is listed on the Stockholm stock exchange.

Read more at www.holmen.com

Hallsta, packaging line, at 19.45

The packaging of the paper is a guarantee that the roll will reach its final destination in pristine condition, just as it left the mill. In the fully-automated packaging system at Hallsta robots do most of the work.

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Holmen Paper Hallsta, SE-763 81 Hallstavik, Sweden. Phone: +46 175 260 00. Fax: +46 175 264 01.

Holmen Paper AB, SE-601 88 Norrköping, Sweden. Phone: +46 11 23 50 00. Fax: +46 11 23 60 30.

Internet: www.holmenpaper.com

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