News Overview

Since the beginning of June 2020, Dr. Kurt Maier (CEO of Heinzel Group) has been the new President of Austropapier, the Association of the Austrian Paper Industry.

Clear commitment to continued supply of customers with paper and pulp

Investment in the production of unbleached pulp

In the middle of this year, Laakirchen Papier AG invested around EUR 4 million in the process optimisation of its paper machine 11 (PM 11) for the manufacture of eco-friendly publication papers. This measure represents both a commitment on the part of the Upper Austrian mill to continue to produce graphic papers for the printing industry and a clear indication of its role as a highly responsible and environment-conscious industrial enterprise.

Built with an investment volume of 130 million euros in a construction time of 17 months, the new PM3 can produce 100,000 metric tons of kraft paper per year.

- Sales revenues up 14% to EUR 2.1 billion - EBIT (EUR 195 million) and net income (EUR 145 million) more than doubled - Net debt further reduced despite investments of EUR 127 million and acquisitions

The investments of recent years have had a positive effect on both the levels of energy use and CO2 emissions at the Laakirchen paper mill. This improvement is demonstrated clearly by the Paper and Carbon Profiles, which represent the established method within the industry of showing environmental impact and provide an overview of the relevant parameters. Moreover, Laakirchen Papier AG voluntarily commissioned Quality Austria to undertake an examination of these calculations.

In recent months, the reconstruction of the Danzermühl hydropower plant has made massive headway.

In 2019, Laakirchen Papier is to invest roughly EUR 4.5 million in the paper machine PM 11, which manufactures SC papers.

Since the spring of 2018, the responsibilities for the sale of “Grapho” (SC paper) and “Starboard” (containerboard) have been divided up. The aim of this new sales structure is to provide every customer group with optimum support on a specific segment basis and use recognisable potential with even greater efficiency.

Today on March 27, 2018 at 17:34, employees of Laakirchen Papier AG discovered flames in an open waste paper storage box (volume approx. 1,500 tons) with the aid of a thermal imaging camera. Immediately the alarm chain was triggered. The fire department arrived minutes later and started to extinguish the fire. People did not get hurt. The fire is under control and we are confident that we will soon be able to announce "Brand aus". While we search for the causes of the fire, production continues unchecked on the grounds of Laakirchen Papier AG.

Heinzel Group increased its sales revenues by roughly 3% compared with the previous year to EUR 1,816.5 million in 2017. All companies of the two business areas, Trading and Industrial, recorded increases in both sales revenues and earnings, which were significant in some cases - with the exception of Laakirchen Papier.

Europapier Group is the most important paper merchant in CEE and a pioneer in the region’s markets.

Mark Lunabba CEO Laakirchen Papier AG says goodbye after 17 years Thomas Welt to take over commencing 01. January 2018

This year, Laakirchen Papier AG invested around EUR 100 million and now possesses one of Europe’s most modern containerboard machines. This is intended to enable the Upper Austrian mill’s owner, the Heinzel Group, to achieve its objective of becoming one of the top players in the European packaging market. The main target markets for the containerboard, which is to be sold under the “starboard” brand name, are Austria, Germany, CEE and Italy.

The converted PM10 has been put back into operation after 10-weeks conversion.

Following a capacity enlargement to 350,000 t/y, the Paper Machine 11 numbers among the most efficient in Europe

With its Laakirchen Papier and Raubling Papier production locations, heinzelpaper is a strong and flexible partner to the packaging industry. Accordingly, under the starboard brand, it now offers a strong and environment-friendly range of containerboard based on recycled paper.

The Heinzel Group can again reflect upon a successful financial year in 2016 during which it was able to increase markedly both its production and trading volumes, and thus raise its consolidated sales revenues by 19.1 per cent to EUR 1,763.3 million.

The interpack 2017, which will take place in Dusseldorf from 4 to 10 May, will see Heinzel Paper unveil its new starboard product brand to a large audience of international specialists for the first time.