Feldmuehle confident on resolution as it launches new label paper

Independent German paper mill Feldmuehle Uetersen, which filed for insolvency last month, is confident about the future of the business and has pressed on with its previously announced strategic reorganisation with the launch of a new label paper.

EmbaSet, a high-gloss non-wet strength paper for standard labels, is commercially available immediately in weights of 80 and 90gsm.

Suitable for offset, flexo and gravure printing, Feldmuehle said it has been testing the product extensively with some of its customers since November.

“EmbaSet is suitable for standard labels for non-returnable containers in the food and non-food industry. The high white and high gloss surface of the paper ensures excellent printing results,” said senior sales manager Martin Mönke.

The company said it has continued to operate at full speed.

Our filed insolvency proceedings of 24 January are not the end of a path, but rather mark the turn into a more economically successful future,” said managing director Heiner Kayser.

Mönke added: “Everything is running as normal; all of our customers and suppliers are supporting us.

“The German insolvency law is there to restructure your company – at the moment the government is paying the salaries of the employees and we have three months to restructure ourselves. We already have a couple of investors in place, which are ready, so it’s just a matter of time.”

He added: “We also have products in the flexible packaging segment coming up and we are talking about a couple of new products in the label segment – we are moving on.”

The company first outlined the strategic reorganisation of its product portfolio and sales organisation in September last year.

The process will see it streamline its six existing product segments into three business areas of Labelling Applications, Packaging Solutions and Graphical Options, with the aim to strengthen its market position in these three areas.

Feldmuehle Uetersen employs around 420 staff and produces around 250,000 tonnes of paper a year at its mill, which runs two paper machines, just west of Hamburg. The business specialises in the production of high-quality graphic, label and packaging papers for the German and international markets.

It has a history stretching back to 1904. It became an independent mill again in 2015, after Stora Enso completed the sale of the business to German private equity fund Perusa Partners.

Bedford-based paper agent Paper2print has supplied a range of Feldmuehle products to the UK market since it formed in 2015. Feldmuehle also supplies direct to UK customers.