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

$114 million, a good share of which, approximately $63 million, were devoted to new equipment. In 1985 investments totaled $141 million, with approximately $68 million devoted to machinery and equipment. The estimated total investments by paper machinery suppliers over the 5-year period is in the range of $52 million, thus averaging approximately $10.4 million per year.

R&D is practically nonexistent in the Italian paper machinery industry. All of the leading companies that could afford to maintain an R&D program are subsidiaries or licensees of foreign firms which have access to the research carried out abroad by their own R&D functions to keep up with the technological innovations. The Italian Government does not provide any direct subsidies to the paper industry, nor to the paper machinery industry. It does operate broad programs for export credit guarantees and regional development aid for which these industries may qualify. The Italian association of paper manufacturing industries has requested some type of assistance from the Italian Government, either in the form of financial subsidies or tax breaks, but, so far, no positive action has been taken by the government.

West Germany

With its paper machinery industry highly geared to exports, West Germany is the world's dominant exporting nation, annually supplying about one-fourth of the world exports of paper machinery in the first half of the 1980s. West German producers are especially strong in the area of cutting-, bag- and boxmaking machinery holding about 40 percent of this market. This nation replaced Finland in 1983-85 as the leading exporter of machinery for making or finishing paper/paperboard and has been a formidable rival to Finland for second place (behind Sweden) in the world export market

for machinery for making cellulosic pulp. West Germany is also the largest exporter of paper machinery to the United States. West German exports to the United States totaled $183 million in 1987, far exceeding that of any other country.

The Domestic Market. West Germany trails only the United States among the nations of the world as a paper machinery maker. Defining the industry as it is defined in the United States, one finds that West German paper machinery production in 1987 topped $1.41 billion, up 22 percent from the $1.15 billion shipped during 1986. This followed a 50 percent increase from $768 million shipped in 1985. The rise in West German shipments reflected the worldwide recovery in the paper machinery industry.9

The ability of West Germany to produce pulp-making and papermaking machinery is far in excess of domestic demand, thereby forcing West German machinery producers to rely heavily on exports. Exports accounted for nearly two-thirds of West German papermaking and paper-finishing machinery production and nearly nine-tenths of paper converting machinery production. In 1987, approximately 13 percent of West German production, or $183 million, was exported to the United States. This represented a decline of 5 percentage points from the 18 percent share of West German production that was exported to the United States in 1986.

West Germany has 175 paper and paperboard mills and 35 pulp mills, with overall domestic paper consumption of 407 lbs. per year, seventh in the world. It is similarly ranked as a producer of paper and paperboard, its mills yielding 9.9 mmtpy in 1987. As a pulp producer, West Germany ranked somewhat lower, its 1987 production of 2.3 mmtpy was sufficient to win 9th place on the pulp production chart.

Industry Overview. West Germany is home to several of the world's leading paper industries machinery makers. These include J.M. Voith, GmbH; Jagenberg AG; Kleinwefers, GmbH; Edward Kusters; Sulzer-Escher Wyss, GmbH; and E.C.H. Will, GmbH Co. A wide variety of suppliers gives the West German industry an ability to compete strongly for paper machinery orders almost anywhere worldwide. Additionally, the West Germans can supply nearly all types of pulping equipment, winders, and supercalenders, in addition to the fourdrinier machine.

9 West German production statistics are from Produktion im Produzierenden Gewerbe des In-und Auslandes, Reihe 3.1, 1987, Statistiches Bundesamt Wiesbaden, 1987. The figures were revised by the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration to concur with the industry definition used in this report.

West German producers are well organized in the Association of German Manufacturers of Printing and Paper Equipment and Supplies, which has 132 members. The association is a division of the German Machinery and Plant Manufacturers Association known as VDMA. A listing of some leading West German producers is shown in Appendix A.

West German paper machinery manufacturers have invested heavily abroad. J. M. Voith, GmbH, the largest West German paper industries firm, has led the way with major investments in Brazil and the United States. Voith is now the third largest single producer of paper machinery worldwide, trailing only Finnish-based Valmet Paper Machinery Inc., and the U.S.-based Beloit Corporation. Voith's U.S. operations are centered at Appleton, Wisconsin. Voith recently merged its Voith, Inc. facility with Voith-Morden. Other major West German prod cers with investments in the United States include Jagenberg AG, at Enfield, Connecticut; the Swiss-German multinational Sulzer-Escher Wyss, GmbH, at Middletown, Ohio; and E.C.H. Will, through its Pemco, Inc., subsidiary at Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Government Assistance. As its competitors do, the West German Government provides export credit guarantees for which both paper and paper machinery firms are eligible. The export guarantee program is popularly known as the Hermes program, from the private firm which provides the actual guarantee. The most recently available figures do not specify the value of use by these industries, although such export guarantees have been utilized by West German paper machinery exporters in the past. However, they do indicate that, as with similar programs in other OECD countries, the overall value of guaranteed exports declined in 1985-86. This resulted from cancellation of major projects and lower exports to OPEC and East Bloc countries for which guarantees were requested.

United Kingdom

Although the paper machine was invented in France, it was improved in England by the Fourdrinier brothers and Bryan Donkin. Firmly stamping their imprint on the French paper machine, the British also began manufacturing their own paper machines in the 19th century. The industry developed as a specialty producer with several leading U.S.-based firms establishing plants in the United Kingdom after World War I. After World War II, the British paper machinery industry expanded rapidly. Today, it includes over 40 firms supplying machinery ranging from headboxes to converting equipment. Since 1981, U.K. manufacturers have consistently maintained a position among the top five nations in the exports of machinery for making or finishing paper or paperboard in 1985 ranking fourth with about 11 percent of the world export market for this product group. Exports have usually run at about 60 percent of shipments,

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with 16 percent of the 1986 total of $144 million going to the United States. As in the United States, the industry suffered through economic doldrums between 1981 and 1983 as paper demand fell and the pound sterling remained high. A fall in sterling, coupled with more efficient use of plant by machinery makers and increased customer demand, has allowed the industry to regain lost ground between 1984 and 1986. However, little real growth was achieved over the entire 5-year period.

The Domestic Market. The U.K. paper machinery industry has been limited by its weak customer base. Output of paper in the United Kingdom is estimated at slightly more than 6 percent of total U.S. output. In 1987, the British paper and paperboard mills produced 4.2 mmtpy. Pulp production, which has been in decline, totaled only 389,000 mtpy. Production capacity at six leading U.K. paper mills has fallen by 12 percent over the past 7-years as the manufacture of certain paper grades, especially newsprint, has moved offshore. As in the United States, specialty grades, such as lightweight coated paper which is used for magazines, have replaced newsprint as the primary constituent of paper mill output. These changes have reduced demand for new machinery, encouraging U.K. paper machinery manufacturers to maintain high export levels.

Industry Overview. The British paper machinery industry has a heavy foreign-owned component, with U.S.-based firms accounting for about 40 percent of the industry. Among the U.S. leaders with British subsidiaries are Beloit Walmsley (Bolton), Black Clawson (Newport), Johnson Corporation (Ilkley), Albany International (Slough), and Paper Converting Machine Co. (Plymouth). Among leading Britishbased producers Strachan Henshaw Machinery (Bristol), which makes sheeters. Hunt & Moscrop Ltd. (Bristol), which makes calenders and profilrolls, is now a subsidiary of the West German-based firm Kleinewefers. The industry is scattered through industrial areas of Britain with greatest concentration in Lancashire and greater Manchester. A listing of British manufacturers appears in Appendix A.

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The industry is represented by an active trade association, the British Pulp and Paper Machinery Manufacturers Association, founded in 1945 and now representing over 40 members. The association seeks to promote British exports; it, in conjunction with the British Board of Trade, conducted a trade mission to the People's Republic of China in October 1986. A technical association, the Paper Industry Technical Association, also provides a forum for the publication and dissemination of industry research.

Although the

Government Support, R&D, and Capital Expenditures. British Government does not provide specific assistance to paper mills or paper machinery firms, it does provide regional development assistance to firms locating in so-called development areas.

Several paper mills have received such assistance towards the purchase of machinery and equipment. The government also has subsidized the conversion of paper mill power plants from oil to coal. Deferral of taxes is offered for investments in forests and woodlands.

R&D expenditures are an estimated 3-4 percent of sales annually for paper machinery manufacturers. The major U.S.-based producers, Beloit and Black Clawson, maintain separate R&D facilities at their U.K. plants. Other U.K. firms also appear to benefit from overseas R&D. New capital expenditures by the U.K. paper industry have topped $300 million onnually since 1984, after declining to $150 million in the recessionary year of 1982. The leading expenditures have been for new capacity in tissue production and for uncoated free sheet.

Production, Trade, and Consumption. British paper mills are generally small with only a half dozen mills maintaining high production levels. Table 33 provides estimates of production, imports, exports, and the size of the domestic market. The statistics are based on a consolidation of government and industry figures.

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Source: British Paper Machinery Manufacturers Association.
For U.K. Government figures see Business Monitor, PA327, 1984,
Machinery for printing, paper, wood, leather, rubber, glass and
related industries, Department of Trade and Industry, Business
Statistical Office, HMSO, London, 1986.

Other Countries

Switzerland. The Swiss do not rank as leading players in the international paper machinery market and largely exclude the production of wide-width machinery. However, they have been quite successful as producers of converting equipment, especially as

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