Laakirchen, 16. December 2015

PM 10 was partially damaged due to a fire on September 24th, 2015, but was successfully restarted on December 16, 2015. In preparation of the start-up, tests with „stock on wire“ were already performed 2 days in advance. It is expected that PM 10 reaches full production capacity by the end of this week.
A broken cardan shaft that demolished a hydraulic hose has been determined as the root cause for the fire. As a consequence, the oil leaking from the hose caught fire. The break of the shaft was caused by malfunction of a joint bearing. The reason for this fault despite regular monitoring could not be detected.
The actual total loss including interruption of operations amounts to a two-digit million euro sum, which is covered by insurance.
During these 80 days of repair work, some 100 km of cables and cable ladders as well as 4,000 m hydraulic tubes were reinstalled on the paper machine. 70.000 sqm of hall walls and ceiling as well as all machine parts and rolls had to be cleaned and repainted. In addition, some 30 m of electrical control units were delivered, installed and connected.
All of this was made possible by the exemplary support of our suppliers. „We would hereby like to express our gratitude and utmost recognition to all our employees who managed an enormous workload in a highly professional manner” , says Mark Lunabba, CEO of Laakirchen Papier AG and he adds “we are also very impressed by the understanding and loyalty of our customers during this difficult time.”