Category: Omat yhtiöt


Finnish firm on starting line to make weather forecast – Express India

Filed Under: Vaisala by pietrox — Leave a comment
08/09/2009

Helsinki A prominent player in the weather measurement business, Finnish company Vaisala won a one 1-million euro tender in August to set up 60 automatic weather stations across Delhi to provide high-quality weather services for the Commonwealth Games next year.

Though the contract has not been signed yet — the company believes there is enough time to execute the job — the Finnish firm is also participating in the tender process of five other contracts to provide equipment to make weather forecasts during the sports event next October.

Vaisala’s executive vice-president (meteorology) Martti Husu told Newsline that all six contracts are estimated at 10 million euros.

The 60 weather stations, Vaisala’s chief technology officer (strategic research) Ari Meskanen, said will provide data on wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. These stations are portable for temporary installations and consist of a lightweight aluminum tripod and easy-to-use connectors that make them fast to set up. These, company officials said, measure surface weather over a wide range of applications.

“The prediction will be extremely accurate,” Meskanen said, adding that a recent World Bank input on the modernisation of meteorological services in India indicate the country needs to spend nearly $ 400 million in the next five years for a complete makeover of its network.

India utilises 30,000 locally produced devices to gauge weather, sources said.

For the recent project, Vaisala will be the prime partner in technology and resource-sharing, largely providing equipment and expert advice. It has subcontracted to India-based partner HBE the job of handling the installation of its products, training officials and providing after-sales services required to maintain the equipment.

Husu said the weather data — deriving from observations as real-time as possible — will then be lifted by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) and sent out as forecast.

Though in the business for over 70 years, Husu said the company entered the Indian market only last year and hopes to be associated with the Ministry of Earth Sciences in providing grist to its plan of upgrading the IMD’s network.

The company’s senior vice-president (communications) Helena Marjaranta said Vaisala provided weather solutions for the Beijing Olympics, too, for the business expected for the Commonwealth Games tenders: 10 million euros.

The Delhi government is also looking at five other Games projects, including installing two wind profilers, one new upper air station and developing a high-resolution, numerical weather forecasting model.

The Finnish company hopes to be a long-term player in India’s expanding weather solutions basket. Officials said it is looking at becoming a supplier in expanding India’s hydrological network, supplying meterological solutions for the Indian road authority, harbours, the Power Grid Corporation of India, and hydro and solar power plants.

It also plans to become a major supplier of various instruments used in the Indian meteorological industry.

(The writer is a guest of Finnfacts and Cleantech Finland in Finland)

Helping out Met

* Wins tender to set up 60 automatic weather stations across Delhi to provide high-quality weather services
* Participating in tender process of 5 other contracts to provide equipment to make weather forecasts
* 60 weather stations to provide data on wind speed and direction, temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure
* Stations are portable for temporary installations
* Consist of a lightweight aluminum tripod and easy-to-use connectors that make them fast to set up

via Finnish firm on starting line to make weather forecast – Express India.

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Six companies compete for job – Pöyry among others

Filed Under: Pöyry by pietrox — Leave a comment
31/08/2009

Two Spanish companies are competing with another four firms for the contract to build a metro in Panama city, a government official said yesterday.

Metro de Madrid and the consortium SENER y Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) are the Spanish companies selected by the Interamerican Development Bank and the Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) after analysing proposals from 48 corporations all bidding for the consultancy.

Also competing for the contract are the American companies URS Holdings and Parsons-Birnkerhoff, the French COTEBA and the Mexican-Swiss group made up of POYRY and Cal y Mayor.

The Executive Secretary of the Government’s Metro team, Roberto Roy, said yesterday that the selection of the winning company would be based on “demonstrated experience of integrated technical assistance in Metro type projects.”

The winning company will develop the conceptual design, call for bids for the construction contract and administer the project, according to a presidential source.

The Government will announce the terms of reference for the contract on 31 August and the final selection regarding the winning bid will be made at the end of September.

As the consultancy contract is still in its planning stages, it is not yet known what the budget will be.

The construction of the metro was one of the main electoral promises made by Ricardo Martinelli who created the position of Executive Secretary for the Metro on 1 July, the same day he assumed the presidency.

via Six companies compete for job :: La Estrella Panamá :: laestrella.com.pa :: 2009.

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Metsaliitto sees better sawn goods demand

Filed Under: Honkarakenne by pietrox — Leave a comment
26/08/2009

HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish forestry collective Metsaliitto is seeing stronger demand for sawn goods in Europe as the construction business slowly improves, but it faces a potential shortage of logs, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

Ole Salven, head of Metsaliitto’s wood products business, told a Reuters Paper and Packaging Summit that log sellers have been holding out for better prices and that if they do not begin selling more, it could be forced to curtail production further.

“At the moment we are in a situation where the demand is relatively better than before,” Salven said. “As it looks now we will have a shortage of logs. So lumber prices in our market segment have increased quite dramatically in the last few months.”

Metsaliitto, a major player in the timber industry, is owned by some 130,000 Finnish forest owners. The group, which owns half the private forests in all of Finland, competes with paper producers Stora Enso (STERV.HE) and UPM (UPM1V.HE). Metsaliitto also owns a controlling stake in M-real (MRLBV.HE).

Salven said that while the construction industry had undergone a profound decline, the renovation industry had held up better and was set to show only modest slippage for 2009 and possibly grow a little next year.

“If people don’t move, they tend to renovate. So that market is especially good and it’s a big market for us. There is also an element of stocking up in order not to lose out.”

But after log prices fell some 25-30 percent from their peak in late 2007, log sellers are showing reluctance to sell at current levels even though prices have come up recently.

“Now the rumors are around there is a shortage of logs,” Salven said. “Saw mills have actually curtailed production to balance demand … And now demand for sawn timber is quite good.”

Salven said the construction market was still in negative territory, but not so acutely as before. “Now we are in a situation where the construction market has stopped falling and actually rebounded a little bit.”

Salven said that after depleting its inventory of old logs as of the end of June, Metsaliitto would like to stock up.

“We believe that demand is strong enough for us to do it,” he said. “We would like to buy, but not enough people would like to sell at levels where we think we are competitive.”

If Metsaliitto is unable to buy enough logs at competitive prices, the group is ready to curb output at its sawmills. “We will not continue to go the volume way. We will then curtail production,” Salven said. “We cannot continue to produce at losses.”

via Metsaliitto sees better sawn goods demand | Reuters.

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Papermakers' global rankings – capacity, sales

Filed Under: Forest, Pöyry by pietrox — Leave a comment
24/08/2009

Aug 24 (Reuters) – Following are the rankings of the world’s largest paper makers by total capacity, by paper grades and by turnover.

WORLD’S BIGGEST PAPER AND BOARD PRODUCERS
(by capacity, thousands of tonnes):

  1. International Paper 17,960
  2. Stora Enso 13,177
  3. UPM-Kymmene 11,120
  4. Nine Dragons 10,111
  5. Georgia-Pacific 9,354
  6. Nippon 9,054
  7. Asia Pulp and Paper 9,006
  8. Oji 8,890
  9. AbitibiBowater 7,248
  10. Smurfit Kappa 7,152

Asia Pulp and Paper is part of Sinar Mas group. Georgia-Pacific is owned by Koch Industries, Inc, a private U.S. company headquartered in Wichita, Kan.

WORLD’S BIGGEST MAGAZINE PAPER MANUFACTURERS
(by capacity, thousands of tonnes):

  1. UPM-Kymmene 4,950
  2. Stora Enso 3,585
  3. AbitibiBowater 2,732
  4. Myllykoski 2,431
  5. NewPage 2,037
  6. Norske Skog 1,535
  7. Sappi 1,445
  8. Burgo Group 1,255
  9. Nippon 1,160
  10. SCA 1,000

Myllykoski is a privately held Finnish firm.  NewPage is majority-owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Italian Burgo is closely held, with Holding Gruppo Marchi having 48 percent of shares, Mediobanca 22 percent, with Generali and Italmobiliare having 11.7 percent.

WORLD’S BIGGEST NEWSPRINT MANUFACTURERS
(by capacity, thousands of tonnes):

  1. AbitibiBowater 4,376
  2. Norske Skog 3,421
  3. Stora Enso 2,570
  4. UPM-Kymmene 2,060
  5. Nippon 1,988
  6. White Birch Paper* 1,798
  7. Oji 1,315
  8. Catalyst Paper 1,272
  9. Huatai 1,210
  10. Holmen 1,135

White Birch Paper is owned by Peter Brant (75 pct), Michael Fuchs (12.5), and Aby Rosen (12.5 pct)

WORLD’S BIGGEST FINE PAPER MANUFACTURERS
(by capacity, thousands of tonnes):

  1. Asia Pulp and Paper 5,316
  2. International Paper 5,212
  3. Sappi 4,210
  4. Domtar 3,570
  5. UPM-Kymmene 3,570
  6. Stora Enso 3,305
  7. Nippon 3,095
  8. Oji 2,401
  9. Mondi 1,968
  10. NewPage 1,935

WORLD’S BIGGEST FOREST, PAPER AND PACKAGING FIRMS BY SALES:
(2008, mln of US$) ROCE

  1. International Paper 24,829 1.5
  2. Kimberly-Clark 19,415 14.8
  3. SCA 16,965 5.8
  4. Stora Enso 16,227 4.2
  5. UPM 13,920 2.0
  6. Oji Paper 12,788 1.6
  7. Nippon 11,753 1.2
  8. Smurfit Kappa 10,390 6.7
  9. Metsaliitto 9,466 -1.4
  10. Mondi 9,335 3.7

ROCE — Return on Capital Employed is calculated as net income before unusual items, minority interest, and interest expense, on an after tax basis, divided by average total assets less average non-interest bearing current liabilities. Source: Poyry, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Reporting by Helsinki Newsroom; editing by Hans Peters)

via FACTBOX-Papermakers’ global rankings – capacity, sales – Forbes.com.

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Lista kiinteistörahastojen omistajista

Filed Under: Sponda by pietrox — Leave a comment
20/08/2009

NV Property Fund I Ky: sijoittajina ovat Nordea Henkivakuutus Suomi Oy, Keskinäinen työeläkevakuutusyhtiö Varma ja Valtion eläkerahasto.

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Government of Karelia and PKC Group Oyj have signed the Agreement on Cooperation and Interaction

Filed Under: PKC Group by pietrox — Leave a comment
18/08/2009

Government of Karelia and PKC Group Oyj (Finland) have signed the Agreement on Cooperation and Interaction. Its purpose is to undertake joint actions directed on minimization of consequences of financial and economic crisis and maintenance of effective and steady work of enterprises of the concern in Kostomuksha. From the Government of republic the Agreement was signed by Prime Minister Pavel Chernov, from the Concern – by its President Harri Suutari.

PKC Group Oyj owns four enterprises operating in Karelia, the most famous of which is Karhakos. According to Harri Suutari, financial crisis has caused conditions extremely adverse for further work of enterprises, and they became noncompetitive. In January management of the Concern has requested assistance from the Head of Karelia Sergey Katanandov, who has initiated a working group to studying situation at the enterprises. Then the decision was made to signing the Agreement on Cooperation.

– The Agreement we have signed observes interests of the Governments of Karelia, and of the Concern, – Prime Minister Pavel Chernov has told. – We are interested to keep the Concern’s presence in the republic. Obligations undertaken by the Government are to be executed by all means.

For example, to preserve the number of employees of the enterprises of the Concern the Government undertakes to assist in participation of enterprises in the regional program of employment of population in the republic. Also it undertakes to consider granting income and corporate property tax exemptions. A number of other obligations is also stipulated.

President of the PKC Group Oyj Concern Harri Suutari noted that he was glad to sign the Agreement. «We know what to do to help the enterprise to survive, to help it stay in the Russian market,» – President of the Concern has told. Now some problems have been worked through and solved. In particular, the basic community of workers of enterprises of the Concern is preserved, which makes 700 people.

According to the Agreement, the concern undertakes to take measures on preservation of production, provide steady work of enterprises, preserve the number of employees of enterprises and their employment and exclusion of mass lay-offs. Besides, at the enterprises there should be preserved operating social programs and, workers should receive wages in due time. All these obligations, according to the President of the PKC Group Oyj Harri Suutari, are usual work for the Concern, now only issued in official frameworks.

Prime Minister Pavel Chernov has wished good luck to enterprises in the period of hard work for them. He has also informed, that the created working group will continue to keep track of the situation at enterprises of the Concern, and the Government of Karelia will held them whenever possible. Harri Suutari, in turn, has asked to convey thanks to the Head of Karelia for support already rendered to the Concern.

via 18.08.2009 – Government of Karelia and PKC Group Oyj have signed the Agreement on Cooperation and Interaction.

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Potential mill closures in North America and Europe

Filed Under: Pöyry, Tamfelt by pietrox — Leave a comment
30/07/2009

RISI uncoated woodfree/freesheet study analyzes risk of closure for 100 mills, 200 machines in North America and Europe

BOSTON, MA, July 29, 2009 Press Release – RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announces the official publication of a new study titled: “North American and European Uncoated Woodfree/Freesheet Risk of Closure Study.” This report details data and risk of closure on over 100 mills and 200+ machines, each ranked by major criteria such as cost position, market prospects for the grade, future regional wood supply, corporate significance of the mill, machine age, and machine size. The report is currently available for purchase on the RISI website: http://www.risi.com/ufs.

John Maine, VP – Pulp and Paper at RISI, Inc and Project Team Leader, noted, “The market for uncoated freesheet in North America has been in decline since 1999, falling 5% and 8% for the past two years, and the drop is certain to accelerate in 2009. Although Europe eluded this downtrend until 2008, we expect the demand drop in western Europe to offset the gains in central and eastern Europe, resulting in a decline in total demand for uncoated freesheet in Europe as a whole over the next five years.” He continued, “opportunities to offset these declines through exports will be sparse as South American and Asian producers expand their uncoated freesheet capacity to become self-sufficient and even enter the export market.”

The report identifies a base case and scenarios based on potentially weaker than expected demand and currency fluctuations. “This market has historically operated at a 92% operating rate,” said John. He continued, “In order for the market to return to anywhere near that rate, we predict that significant closures will occur.”An excerpt from the report shows the data more strikingly:

2009 to 2013 (000 tonnes) RISI Scenario I Scenario II Scenario III
Base
Case		 Weak
Demand		 Strong
Euro		 Strong Euro /
Weak Demand
EUROPE
Drop in Domestic Demand -969 -1479 -969 -1479
Erosion/Gain in Net Trade 90 90 -178 -178
New Capacity 1440 1440 1440 1440
Closures Likely -1599 -2109 -1867 -2377
NORTH AMERICA
Drop in Domestic Demand -2026 -2495 -2026 -2495
Erosion/Gain in Net Trade -78 -78 -17 -17
New Capacity 0 0 0 0
Closures Likely -2104 -2573 -2043 -2512

This timely and valuable study details the most likely mills and machines by ranking them on a six criteria methodology, along with a market overview. In addition, the methodology pits small mills producing primarily specialty products against each other rather than trying to compare their cost structures to those of large, commodity mills.

via RISI.

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VW sees slow upswing in commercial vehicles from H2

Filed Under: Componenta, PKC Group by pietrox — Leave a comment
29/07/2009

Volkswagen <VOWG.DE> expects demand for commercial vehicles to gradually improve from the second half of this year until the end of 2010, the commercial vehicle division’s head told Reuters.  “There is a moderate upward movement, but at a low level. I expect that there will be no substantial change next year either,” Stephan Schaller said in the interview published on Wednesday.

The company plans to crank production at its Hanover plant back up to a normal level next month, having cut back output by about a quarter earlier this year to offset slumping demand.

Schaller also said that plans for cooperation with Scania <SCVb.ST> and MAN SE <MANG.DE> were intended to progress slowly, meaning no quick updates could be expected on the matter.

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Jacobs shares fall on weak backlog, lowered '09 view

Filed Under: Pöyry by pietrox — Leave a comment
28/07/2009

Shares of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc <JEC.N> fell 9 percent Tuesday, a day after the construction services company reported lower quarterly profit and backlog, and trimmed the top end of its 2009 earnings forecast range.

Jacobs reported third-quarter backlog of $15.8 billion, down 5 percent sequentially, and removed about $665 million from backlog due to project cancellations and shifting cost risks to customers.

Barclays Capital analyst Andy Kaplowitz said backlog might have troughed in the third quarter, and it could stabilize in the next couple of quarters and rise again toward the end of calendar year 2009 and early 2010.

A company executive said on a conference call that about $300 million of backlog in the third quarter was hit by a project cancellation in the upstream market and there might be more cancellations going forward in that segment. “I am not going to rule out a cancellation (in the fourth quarter) but I expect the overall oil and gas markets to be slightly firmer, meaning slightly lower chance of cancellations,” said analyst Kaplowitz, who has an “equal weight” rating on the stock.

The Pasadena, California-based company, which caters to industrial, commercial, and government clients, said although the oil sands business appears to have “reenergized,” it would like its exposure to that market to be smaller. About 55 percent of the company’s revenue comes from the oil market.

“While our public sector markets – led by national government programs – remain good, our growth there was insufficient to offset declines in our private sector markets,” CEO Craig Martin said.

Jefferies & Co analyst Michael Dudas said though Jacobs’ public sector would get a boost in 2010 through stimulus spending, it would be the energy and oil markets that would drive a recovery in earnings and orders.

Dudas said the company’s new outlook reflects backlog issues, and he sees an upside to its backlog in 2010. Jacobs, which ended the quarter with $1 billion in cash, said it would capitalize on acquisitions over the next few quarters. Jacobs also said it was expanding aggressively in India and the Middle East and that it was looking to bring its domestic and international exposure to about 50 percent each, from a current ratio of 60 percent to 40 percent.

On Monday, Jacobs posted a profit of 76 cents a share, in line with Wall Street estimates, but saw revenue fall 7 percent during the quarter. For 2009, the company trimmed the top end of its earnings range by 15 cents to $3.35 a share. It had previously forecast an earnings range of $3.10 to $3.50 a share.

Barclays’ Kaplowitz said investor sentiment was negative as the company has lowered its outlook for the second time and on concerns about its exposure to U.S. refining market.

Shares of company fell $3.13 to $40.26 Tuesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange. They touched a low of $39.63 earlier.

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Paccar reports drop in net, cuts industry outlook

Filed Under: Componenta, PKC Group by pietrox — Leave a comment
28/07/2009

* Q2 loss 1 ct/share ex-items; Wall St view EPS 4 cts
* Sales down 55 percent at $1.85 billion
* Says challenging market conditions continuing
* Shares fall as much as 12 percent

CHICAGO, July 28 (Reuters) – Paccar Inc <PCAR.O> said on Tuesday that quarterly earnings plunged more than 90 percent as a weak freight market walloped demand for its trucks and forced it to idle some plants.
The company warned that challenging market conditions were continuing, especially in Europe, where it lowered its forecast for 2009 industrywide truck demand and provided an initial glimpse at 2010 that shows sales plunging to levels last seen in 1992.The news sent its shares down as much as 12 percent.

JPMorgan analyst Ann Duignan called the truck market outlook “sobering.” Paccar, which makes vehicles under the Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF brands, reported second-quarter profit of $26.5 million, or 7 cents a share, down from $313.5 million, or 86 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding a one-time gain, Paccar reported an operating loss of 1 cent a share. Analysts on average had expected the Bellevue, Washington-based company to report operating earnings of 4 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates. Sales fell 55 percent to $1.85 billion.

Paccar forecast industrywide retail sales of the biggest on-highway trucks in the U.S. and Canada at 100,000 to 110,000 vehicles in 2009, “reflecting continued economic weakness, specifically in lower housing starts and auto production.”

NO ‘PREBUY’

Truckmakers had hoped 2009 would be a good one for demand, thanks to tough U.S. clean air rules that take effect in 2010. The regulations, which require more efficient — and more expensive engines — were expected to prompt fleet owners to stock up on cheaper trucks now. But the recession and credit crunch have effectively killed those hopes. During a conference call to discuss Paccar’s earnings, Mark Pigott, the company’s chief executive, said: “It’s going to be challenging certainly through the end of this year.”

Looking forward to next year, Paccar predicted sales in the United States and Canada would improve slightly and be in the range of 110,000 to 140,000 vehicles.

Industry retail sales in the region peaked at 322,500 units in 2006, ahead of clean-air rules that took effect in 2007 and triggered the sort of “prebuy” truckmakers were counting on this year.

The company cut its estimate for industrywide heavy truck sales in Europe to between 170,000 and 180,000 vehicles, down from its April forecast of 180,000 to 220,000. And next year, it said they could fall again, to as low as 150,000 units. Pigott said Paccar remains committed to pricing discipline.

But he acknowledged that industrywide prices had fallen over the past two years and that the $8,000 to $10,000 premium most analysts expect will be added to truck prices as a result of the new 2010 regulations would come on top of this year’s lower price levels, not the higher ones that prevailed earlier this decade.

Paccar shares were down $3.72 or 10.5 percent at $31.57 in early afternoon trading after falling as low as $30.97.

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