Filtration Industry Analyst July 1998

RIVERWOOD EXPANDS

CONVERTING CAPACITY

Riverwood International Corp has announced a capi- tal investment project that will expand converting cap- acity at its Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, USA, carton plant.

New equipment to be installed on the press line is expected to improve efficiency and throughput. The equip- ment is also expected to pro- vide a 25 per cent increase in the capacity of the plant, which prints and converts the compa- ny's coated unbleached kraft paperboard to cartons for bev- erage customers.

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FOREX INAUGURATES

NEW PLANT Le Groupe Forex has inau- gurated its new oriented strand board plant in Bois- Franc, Canada.

The C$120 million facility has a maximum annual pro- duction capacity of 550 000 cubic metres, making it the biggest plant of its kind in the world. After ten months of activity, the plant had achieved a production rate equal to 68 per cent of this annual capacity.

REPUBLIC TO BUILD RECYCLED

PAPERBOARD MILL

Republic Group Inc is to build a 100 per cent recycled paperboard mill in Lawton, Oklahoma, USA.

Construction of the 220 000 ton-per-year mill will begin almost immediately, with start-up scheduled for the end of 1999. Total construction costs are expected to be approximately US$150-170 million. The new mill will sup-

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ply premium quality gypsum- grade paperboard to external customers and the company's own gypsum wallboard facility in Duke, Oklahoma. The Duke facility is currently undergoing an expansion expected to be completed during the summer, to double its effective capacity to 1.2 billion square feet annually.

SHANGHAI CONTAINER

PLANT OPENS SCA Weyerhaeuser Pack- aging Holding Company Asia Ltd, a joint venture between Weyerhaeuser and SCA Packaging, has opened its first box plant producing corrugated containers in Shanghai, China.

The plant and office build- ings cover 17 200 square metres and feature state-of- the-art manufacturing equip- ment and an on-site package design and testing laboratory.

KAFUS PLANS FIRST EUROPEAN

PLANT Kafus Environmental Ind- ustries is planning to construct a CanFibre MDF facility in The Port of Amsterdam, Holland.

Kafus has expanded the size of the proposed plant from its standard North American design of 78 million square feet-per-year, to 120 million square feet-per-year to cope with the anticipated increased European demand.

INVESTMENT BOOSTS

ALLIANCE'S CAPACITY

A newly installed paper machine and cogeneration unit at Alliance Forest Products' Dolbeau, Canada mill will increase its annual production capacity to 200 000 tonnes of paper.

The paper machine was almost entirely rebuilt at a cost of C$177 mil l ion, and the C$66 mill ion cogeneration unit has the capacity to gener- ate about 20 MW of electricity from burning waste sludge and biomass.

DYNEGY TO BUILD 600 MW

PLANT Dynegy Inc has announced plans to construct a gas- fired, four-unit, 600 MW generation facility in Rockingham County, North Carolina, USA.

Dynegy is currently final- ising the scope, procurement and design details for the new facility, and it is expected to be on-stream by June 2000. Duke Power has signed a letter of intent to purchase the electrici- ty produced by the new plant.

TEXAS COGENERATION PLANT SET FOR

2000 Columbia Electric and LG&E Power Inc have signed an agreement for Columbia to participate in the development of a natural gas-fired cogeneration pro- ject in Texas, USA.

The new facility will pro- vide electricity and steam, equivalent to 550 MW, for a Reynolds Metals plant in Gregory, Texas. The project is expected to begin commercial operation in the summer of 2000.

MID-GEORGIA PLANT BEGINS

OPERATION The US$150 million Mid- Georgia cogeneration plant

in Kathleen, Georgia, USA started commercial opera- tion on 1 June 1998.

The 300 MW, combined cycle cogeneration plant came on-stream after an aggressive 19-month construction sched- ule. The plant is selling low- cost electrical energy to a pow- er company and a snack-food processing plant.

HERCULES EXPANDING CAPACITY

Hercules Inc has announced plans for the expansion of its methylcellulose facility at the Aquaion plant in Doel, Belgium.

The investment will increase methylcel lulose capacity in Doel from 17 000 metric tons to 25 000 metric tons, with potential for further expansion to 32 000 metric tons. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2000. The new capacity will be marketed primarily to cus- tomers in the construction industry, and in regulated busi- nesses like food, personal care and pharmaceuticals.

GOODYEAR EXPANDING CHEMICAL BUSINESS

The Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company is invest- ing US$144 million in a new chemical plant in Beaumont, Texas, USA.

Ground breaking for the new facility is planned for the second quarter, and the plant is expected to come on-stream in early 2000. The new plant, which will produce speciality polymers for the synthetic rub- ber industry, represents part of a US$600 mill ion overall investment in an expansion of the company's chemical business.