A report from the USA
Together with our sales partner Andritz, we have recently been around paper mills in the US, and we wanted to tell you a little about how the market for Flow Scanner solutions looks in North America.
Big mills – big needs
Alabama River Pulp Company in Claiborne, Alabama.
First impressions are that everything is actually much bigger “over there”. Of the world’s total mass production of 160 million tonnes, the United States accounts for about a third. In total, there are over 290 active paper mills, so the market for Mantex solutions is really huge. And because US mills are usually larger than European, the effects of a Flow Scanner solution become very significant.
Land of innovation
In our contacts with the pulp mills, we notice a genuine interest in new innovative technologies. There is a great need to measure the moisture content of wood chips. Many have tried alternative technologies and products available on the market, but nothing has been shown to work as desired.
When we present the Flow Scanner, and the positive results from our European customers, it’s almost as if it seems too good to be true. A reaction that we have started getting used to.
Bigger variations
Weather can have a big impact on moisture levels.
An interesting advantage of our solutions is that there is often more moisture variations in US wood raw material than we have in Europe. In a month, it may vary as much as it normally does over an entire year at home. Especially in the southern United States, where the climate can quickly vary between very dry and very high humidity. In addition, storms with heavy precipitation often occur.
This is a perfect environment for real-time measurement with Flow Scanner. Other methods simply take too long and are not as accurate.
Keep the chips clean!
Another advantage that the pulp mills find interesting is Flow Scanner’s ability to detect things that you absolutely do not want in your wood chips. In these large material flows, you often find stones, metal scraps, concrete pieces and a lot of other debris that can cause expensive production stoppages. Since the average US mill is about 10 years older than European ones, they are extra vulnerable to this kind of very expensive production disruption that costs millions of dollars each year.
All over the US
To date, we have visited about 30 of the 210 mills we have identified as potential buyers of Flow Scanner solutions. And with monthly trips across the Atlantic, we continue to meet potential customers.
The market for our products in the US is extremely interesting, and our technology is seen as a relatively easy way to stabilize and increase pulp production. We are convinced that this initiative will lead to concrete results by 2018.
Until next time!
If you’d like to know more about our Flow Scanner solution for the pulp and paper industry, don’t hestiate to contact Harvey Washbrook, Sales Manager for Pulp and paper, at harvey.washbrook@mantex.se or +46 70-877 06 79.