Smurfit Kappa expects its Cellulose du Pin 520,000 tonnes/year containerboard mill in Biganos, France, to be down at least four weeks due to a black liquor tank rupturing on July 5, resulting in 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes lost production

Diane Keaton

LOS ANGELES , July 13, 2012 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – Smurfit Kappa Group’s Cellulose du Pin containerboard mill in Biganos, France, is expected to be down four at least four weeks due to a black liquor tank rupturing on July 5, the company said, reported EUWID-Paper on July 13.

The 520,000 tonnes/year mill is not expected to be restarted before the beginning of August, resulting in the loss of 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes of production, according to the company, which is based in Dublin, Ireland.

The mill has two machines and one pulping line. PM No. 5 has the capacity to make 190,000 tonnes/year of white-top kraftliner and white-top testliner, and PM No. 6 is capable of producing up to 330,000 tonnes/year of brown kraftliner, EUWID-Paper reported.

When the black liquor tank burst and spilled some 3,500 cubic meters of black liquor, pulp and paper production was stopped immediately and all 130 workers who were at the mill were evacuated. No injuries were reported.

The company said that “all necessary measures are being taken to clean up the spillage” and to resume production “as soon as feasible,” reported EUWID-Paper.

In a July 12 research note about the incident, Deutsche Bank paper and forest products industry analyst Mark Wilde said the facility, which is near Bordeaux, is one of Smurfit Kappa’s largest containerboard mills and accounts for an estimated 15% to 20% of kraft linerboard production in Western and Central Europe. Prolonged downtime at the Facture mill could tighten world markets for containerboard, Wilde said.

The primary source of this article is EUWID-Paper, Gernsbach, Germany, on July 13, 2012.

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