Heinzel Paper starts up containerboard machine in Austria

The Vienna-based Heinzel Group has announced the startup of a containerboard production line at its subsidiary’s Laakirchen Papier AG site in Austria.

According to the Heinzel Group, paper has been manufactured in Laakirchen for the past 150 years. The Heinzel Group’s decision to break into the containerboard field “will secure the long-term success” of Laakirchen Papier AG, since “the strong European corrugated board market segment offers considerable future potential.”

The new line, Paper Machine (PM) 10, started producing what Heinzel Group calls lightweight containerboard made entirely from recycled fibers in mid-October 2017.

“Above all, the combination of rising online retailing volumes and the current economic upturn with its related increase in consumer spending has triggered sizeable expansion in the packaging paper market,” says Mark Lunabba, CEO of Laakirchen Papier AG.

PM10 can manufacture up to 450,000 metric tons per year of containerboard based on recycled paper at widths of up to 7.5 meters (24.5 feet) at a speed of 1,600 meters per minute (5,250 feet per minute). Investments required included a new plant for the treatment of scrap paper fibers and anaerobic used-water cleaning, storage areas for scrap paper and the completion of a warehouse with an automated crane system for the new products.

“Containerboard serves as the basis for corrugated board packaging, and we offer our customers the products Starboard Liner and Starboard Wave with substances of between 70 and 140 grams per square meter (gsm),” says Thomas Krawinkler, head of sales and marketing at Laakirchen Papier AG. (Starboard is a brand name used by Heinzel Group and Laakirchen.)

The sourcing of scrap paper is now a key issue for the paper producer, the company indicates, and it will rely on Vienna-based scrap paper trading firm Bunzl & Biach, which also is a member of the Heinzel Group, to secure its supply.