Immagini della pagina
PDF
ePub
[blocks in formation]

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade
Administration internal documents.

through the Swedish Board for Technical Development. STFI is currently headed by Jan I. Bergstrom, formerly Vice-President, Research and Development of Beloit Corporation. The laboratory employs approximately 330 people, of whom 120 work in areas of pulp and paper technology.

STFI research in pulp and paper process technology is geared to improving the international competitiveness of the Swedish industry. The research is aimed at reducing operating costs (energy, raw materials, and labor) and the fixed capital costs of machinery. Projects which have received STFI support in the past include (1) reduction of energy consumption in the manufacture of both mechanical and thermomechanical pulps; (2) microbiological pretreatment of pulp chips to reduce energy costs in manufacturing; (3) high consistency screening of pulp; (4) high consistency stock preparation in pulp formation; and (5) new processes in paperboard manufacturing. In addition, STFI also participates in cooperative research with counterpart institutions in Norway and Finland.

Several other Swedish research institutions also participate in research affecting pulp and paper machinery. These include the Royal Institute of Technology, the Royal College of Forestry, and the Swedish Packaging Research Institute. There is also private R&D conducted by industry, including such firms as Kamyr and KMW. In 1985, the Swedish Government provided assistance to KMW for a new tissue drying research machine at the KMW Development Center in Karlstad. The project was budgeted at over $3 million and focused on upgrading of equipment, including the yankee dryer cylinder.

France

France has long been among the world's leading papermaking countries. The first papermaking machine was invented in France by

Nicholas-Louis Robert in 1796, and much of the technical terminology connected to the paper machine is of French origin. A substantial paper machinery industry has existed in France since the 19th century. Nevertheless, France is not ranked among the world's leading paper machinery producers although its shipments are substantial and it exports to many markets. In 1985 its share of world exports of paper machinery was 4.9 percent compared to 7.1 percent in 1981. The United States exported approximately $5 million worth of paper machinery to France in 1986 while importing $30 million in return. Foreign-owned suppliers from the United States, Sweden, and Finland are among active French domestic paper machinery makers.

Industry Overview. France has approximately 24 major producers of paper machinery. Thirteen of these firms make machinery to make pulp, paper, or paperboard machinery and 11 manufacture paper converting machinery. Overall the industry includes about 110 firms. A national trade association, "Syndicat des Constructeurs de Machines Pour les Industries du Papier, du Carton, et des Arts Graphiques," popularly called SCIPAG, represents 29 producers in this industry.

The industry is dispersed throughout France. Although many producers are located in Paris or its industrial suburbs, others are outside Paris such as Cambon, a leader in the production of converting equipment at Orleans, Cellier at Aix-les-Bains, Solaronics at Armentieres, and Cuir at Lille. There is a substantial foreign presence in the French industry, primarily of U.S. and Scandinavian firms. Foreign-owned firms in France include subsidiaries of Black Clawson (United States), Brown-Boveri-Asea (Flakt Industrie, Switzerland-Sweden), Ahlstrom-Hanssen (Finland), and a large minority holding by Valmet (Finland) in Allmand. Production of pulp, paper and paperboard, including domestic shipments, exports, and goods held in inventory, totaled over $214 million in 1985. Pulp, paper, and paperboard machinery ($92 million) and converting machinery ($82 million) represented 81 percent of this total. Since the creation of the European Community, French producers have largely specialized in corrugating machinery. The French do not produce calendering machinery, newsprint machinery, or tissue-making machinery, generally avoiding making machinery wider than 7.5 meters (23 1/4 ft.). The limited range of equipment produced has encouraged French firms to rely on direct exporting. Cellier, with a U.S. plant at Natick, Massachusetts, is probably the most active French paper machinery maker in this country.

French shipments of paper machinery have been volatile during the current decade. Shipments fell by 12 percent in 1982 paralleling poor U.S. industry performance. In comparison French industry shipments rose by 29 percent between 1984 and 1985 far outstripping the comparable U.S. performance. Comparing the 1981-85 period to

[blocks in formation]

Note: Totals do not include 18.6 percent value added tax.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade
Administration, U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service.

that of 1981, shipments rose 26 percent in current French francs. Adjusted for the exchange rate differential, however, dollar value shipments dropped by nearly 24 percent, declining from $228 million to $174 million (Table 30).

Trade. The United States has maintained an unfavorable balance of trade in paper machinery with France. Exports, after reaching a high of $13.6 million in 1981, fluctuated between $4 million and $6 million per annum during 1982-86. Final 1986 U.S. figures showed exports of around $5 million, including U.S. trade with French Pacific and West Indian possessions. The 1981 figure was accounted for by an extraordinary sale of finishing machinery. In 1985, two thirds of U.S. paper machinery exports to France consisted of parts ($3.4 million) and another 16 percent ($800,000) was box-and cartonmaking machinery.

Exports to the United States of French paper machinery have risen steadily over the last 5 years. From $6.5 million in 1981, or less than half of exports, U.S. imports rose to $20.7 million, more than four times exports, in 1985. The upward trend continued into 1986, with U.S. imports totaling nearly $30 million for the year. However, U.S. imports of French paper machinery fell sharply to $19 million in 1987.

France exports to the United States much the same types of machinery imported from this country. Approximately 64 percent of French paper machinery exports to the United States consisted of corrugating machinery. Overall U.S. imports of French-built

box-making machinery rose from $1.3 million in 1981 to $13.3 million in 1985, a tenfold increase. Paper machinery parts accounted for $3.1 million in French exports to the United States or 15 percent of overall U.S. imports of French paper machinery.

Table 31 provides

Capital Expenditures and Government Assistance. data on French expenditures on paper machinery in 1981-85. As with the United States, French investment in new machinery and equipment is primarily devoted to rebuilds. An estimated 276 pulp, paper, and paperboard machines were operating in France in 1985, a 35 percent decline since 1974. However, the total operating capacity of these machines expanded over the same period as the capacity per machine increased.

[blocks in formation]

Note:

Figures do not include 18.6 percent value added tax.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade
Administration, U.S. Foreign Commercial Service.

The French Government has traditionally provided little direct assistance to manufacturers of paper machinery. Assistance has come, instead, in the form of grants or loans to papermakers to purchase equipment. Prior to the Chirac Government, in power between 1986 and 1988, loans were the most common form of assistance. These loans were granted by one of two agencies under jurisdiction of the Ministry of Research and Technology. The Fonds Industriel de Modernisation (F.I.M.) or Industrial Modernization Fund and the Agence Nationale Pour la Valorisation de Recherche (ANVAR) or National Agency for Support of Research are charged respectively with industrial modernization aid and the promotion of R&D and bringing patents to manufacture. In response to budgetary pressure, the Government of France no longer provides these loans. The loan programs gained notoriety in France after problems developed with a 1985 loan to the firm Chapelle Darblay. The subsequent outcry set the stage for suspension of the loan program.

Italy Industry Overview. Italy has gradually assumed greater importance as a producer of paper machinery, although the overall size of its industry remains modest. The Italian paper machinery industry has approximately 40 manufacturers, of which 7 account for approximately 85 percent of shipments. Total industry employment is about 2,000 of which half is at the two largest firms. Most of the production is concentrated in the north: Piedmont, Veneto, and Tuscany.

Seven major Italian paper machinery manufacturers are shown in Appendix A. Of these, the largest are Beloit Italia, S.p.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.S.-owned parent Beloit Corporation, and De Pretto Escher Wyss, a subsidiary of the Swiss firm SulzerEscher Wyss. The Finnish-owned Tampella recently acquired 80 percent of Oficine Fonderie Carcano, S.p.A. Several Italian producers maintain licensing agreements with foreign suppliers, including Freiria SRL with the Finnish-owned Ahlstrom.

Trade. As indicated in Table 32, approximately 65 percent of Italy's production is exported. According to OECD data, Italy has ranked in the top five exporting nations since 1982, annually supplying nearly one-tenth of the world export market for paper machinery. It ranked third as recently as 1985. Though the United States has often been Italy's largest export market ($40 million in 1985), other important recipients include West Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Eastern European nations. Beloit Italia recently supplied a mill project to the People's Republic of China. Italy imports heavily from West Germany, Scandinavian countries, France, the United Kingdom, and Austria. U.S. exports to the Italian market are very limited and sporadic.

The Italian Market. Italy ranked as the 10th largest worldwide producer of paper and paperboard with 4.5 mmtpy in 1987, but its pulp production, at 0.7 mmtpy, placed it only fifth in the European Community. There are 340 paper and paperboard mills in Italy, a large number for a country of its size. The industry, especially in printing and writing papers, has been consolidating, and mill capacity is believed to be substantially in excess of demand. and paperboard production in 1986 was only 72 percent of capacity, far below the 90 percent average common in most countries. There are 21 pulp mills in Italy, of which 15 produce mechanical pulps. As a consumer of paper, Italy ranked 20th worldwide, using 207 pounds per capita per year.

Paper

Capital Expenditures, R&D and Government Assistance. New capital expenditures for all types of paper machinery have been limited to machinery rebuilds for the period 1981 to the present. There have been no investments in new paper mills. While investments were very limited in 1981-83, in 1984 the paper industry invested

« IndietroContinua »