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Paper

PaperWe provide customers in the pulp and paper industry with products and product packages that help improve their profitability, raw material and energy efficiency, and promote sustainable development. We are one of the world’s leading companies in this sector.

To further improve our customer service, we organized our Paper segment into four customer segments at the end of 2008: Pulp, Printing & Writing, Packaging & Board and Tissue & Specialties. Our product range covers fiber chemistry as well as chemicals for raw and waste water treatment. Water is a key element in the Paper segment, and water plays an important role in pulp making and bleaching. In paper making, water at best accounts for more than 99 per cent.

Strongest Growth in Developing Markets

We operate in a global pulp and paper chemicals market of more than EUR 23 billion, of which about EUR 13 billion is relevant to Kemira. North America and Europe are traditionally our major market areas. In line with our strategy, we are also seeking a stronger position in Asia, South America and Russia. Our objective in China is to outperform the projected five per cent average growth of the paper markets. We have operations in 28 countries, and are one of the leading companies in this sector worldwide.

Cost-efficient Growth

Following the current trend, our customers are shifting their production to new continents in pursuit of raw materials on the one hand and growing consumption on the other. This trend is affected by the availability of fiber, the cost of energy, and a higher general standard of living. We are fully on board in this structural change.

Our business operations in Uruguay, launched in 2007, have started extremely well. In Fray Bentos, we supply all pulp chemicals to Botnia from our chemical factories located in the same area. In July 2008, we launched deliveries also to Celulosa Argentina’s Capitan Bermudez pulp mills in Argentina, covering the chemicals required for chlorine dioxide manufacture as well as hydrogen peroxide. In July, we also signed agreements to supply pulp and bleaching chemicals to the Mondi factories in Syktyvkar, Russia in 2008–2010.

Significant Added Value to the Customer

We are a supplier that offers the widest range of pulp and bleaching chemicals. This allows us to provide customers with integrated chemicals services, which involves making the necessary chemicals at the customer’s facility. Our products and services enable customers to optimize their processes and to improve their productivity, thereby delivering genuine added value. More advanced process automation and chemicals solutions help significantly reduce our customers’ energy, raw material and water consumption. Besides providing a full service, it is important for us to have a strong presence in the countries in which our customers operate. Raw materials and requirements for making pulp and paper, as well as for paper, tissue and board, are very different in different parts of the world. That is why we have organized our operations in a way that allows us to better cater for the individual needs of our key customers globally.

Key Figures

  • Customers: Pulp and paper industry
  • Market Position: #2 worldwide
  • Market Area: Global
  • Markets: Total market about EUR 23 billion (Kemira’s estimate). The market relevant to Kemira’s operations amounts to about EUR 13 billion
  • Products and Services: Chemical solutions for the entire process from pulp manufacture to paper coating to water treatment
  • Revenue: EUR 1,003 million
  • Operating Profit (excluding nonrecurring items): EUR 42 million