Vernon, British Columbia, Canada 21 October 2013 -- Tolko’s strong drive for innovation and the market demand for stronger paper has led the company’s paper mill in The Pas, Man., to concentrate on further enhancements to its kraft papers.

Known internationally for its SPK and SPX brands in the sack manufacturing markets, Tolko’s Manitoba Kraft Paper Division is focusing on increasing the cross direction and machine direction strength of all its paper grades, providing the advantage of a higher balanced tensile energy absorption (TEA) to customers worldwide.

“Many of our customers around the world have very modern operations with ever increasing demands and we need to make sure we meet and exceed their requirements,” said Blair Rydberg, Tolko’s site manager, Manitoba operations. “Thanks to the efforts of our team of specialists, led by production manager Juha Jarvinen, the natural strength of our slow-growing fibre in Manitoba and the use of the only air-borne drying process in North America, we already have a  strong reputation in the market, providing excellent sack conversion performance and end user satisfaction.”

Rydberg continued, “We have committed further capital for the installation of a Voith DuoShake™ during the fall of 2013 to achieve additional improvements in strength for our products. The Voith DuoShake™ works on the principle of creating cross directional turbulence pulses on the forming section by physically oscillating the breast roll or forming fabric thereby allowing for mechanical control of fibre alignment during the paper sheet forming process.”

Jarvinen added, “The final product specifications will be published after installation of the unit. We also expect to have the ability to increase the operating speed of the paper machine, as there are secondary benefits in improved drainage, associated with this equipment once installed.”

The upgrade is expected to be complete by year-end.