Tartegnin, Vaud, Switzerland
40 years hands-on experience in the manufacture, sales and technical service for specialty and commodity grade dissolving wood pulp products and recycled cotton textile pulp manufacture (Renewcell--> now Circulose) in a global market environment with an emphasis on sustainability. My 22 years with Tembec- 10 years of invaluable production experience followed by another 12 years "in the field" with customers, mentoring with Dr. Roy Yorke and gaining experience in viscose making and specialty dissolving pulp applications. Unfortunate and inevitable that Rayonier announces the closure of the Temiscaming sulfite mill in July 2024 after stripping away the highest margin business for themselves and leaving a high cost Northern Hemisphere dp mill at the mercy of commodity textile business. Fortress Forest Products- A first-person participant in the rise and fall of one of the first Canadian paper pulp to dissolving pulp mill conversions following the 2011 cotton "crunch". Many mill conversions followed but few failed so quickly as the result of high production costs, blatant "over-promotion on the financial markets" and serving a commodity grade textile market. Sateri- the "proven" low cost dissolving pulp, viscose staple and Lyocell fibre producer. Their integrated model can't be beaten. They dictate fiber prices in the Asian market and abroad. Huge capacity increase in Lyocell fibre on the table.... but how much non-FSC fibres are the fickle "Brands" ready to buy? Ekman AG- Proud representative of Altri (Caima) and Arauco (Valdivia) dissolving pulp. Equally proud of facilitating the Renewcell story from pilot plant to 60,000 tpy industrial plant. Somewhat disillusioned with the "Brands" talk around sustainability. After 3 years of attending textile exhibitions and interacting with the "Brands" there is a clear division between those who walk the walk and those who simply blow hot air... The Renewcell story "ain't" over. Textiles, however, will not save the day. There are good and growing opportunities in paper making applications with focus on sustainability and lower carbon footprint. The Circ's, Spinnova's, Tree-to-Textile's, Infinited Fiber's are following the Renewcell saga (now called Circulose) closely, because they are equally at risk... don't simply count on textiles and the Brands to fill future next-gen industrial mill capacities. Think outside the box!
Provided production-related, market and customer support for the sales effort of a 500,000 MT Kraft dissolving pulp mill in Salvador, Brazil.
Directed sales for markets in Europe, Asia and the Middle East for two dissolving pulp mills (Temiscaming, Quebec- 165,000 MT, Tartas, France- 160,000 MT).
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