The joint owners of Aylesford, SCA Forest Products and Mondi Group, announced last night that Bengt Blomberg from Sweden is to take on the post.
Mr McKendrick has been with Aylesford since 1995 when its main machine, PM14, was switched on.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Blomberg said he was pleased to be taking up the post and he complimented Mr McKendrick on his achievements at the company. He said: “Alan McKendrick has done a lot of good work and I wish him all the best for his retirement.”
Pulp industry
Mr Blomberg said the Aylesford job will be his first posting in the UK and explained that he has recently been working with businesses in Sweden and Canada. “I have experience of the forest industry and of course pulp.”
My main challenge will be for us to secure the future supply of raw material
Bengt Blomberg – managing director of Aylesford Newsprint from November 7 2008
Looking ahead, Mr Blomberg said he faces a number of challenges in his new post. “My main challenge will be for us to secure the future supply of raw material to Aylesford and at the same time battle with rising energy costs and ensuring profitability.”
Mr Blomberg added: “Costs have risen not only for Aylesford but also for papermakers all over the world.”
In his time at Aylesford Mr McKendrick has seen the paper machine achieve record speeds and the company becoming an established and successful supplier to UK newspaper producers and overseas.
On the downside a second modern paper machine at Aylesford has not been given the go-ahead by the company's shareholders although there is space for a new machine close to PM14. Aylesford also missed out on a grant from the Waste & Resources Action Programme which, after much wrangling, went to the UPM-Kymmene mill at Shotton. Mr McKendrick also faced the curious position of facing competition from his former chairman, Ramsey Hampton, who became involved with a bid to develop a newsprint machine for Ecco Newsprint in the north-east of England, although this is still at drawing board stage.
Two shareholders
And, the position of Aylesford in having two shareholders who are thought not to have always agreed on strategy is a topic which has been discussed within the paper sector generally. Furthermore, last year there were indications that a sale of the business was possible, partly due to the demerger of Mondi into an independent business.
Science degree
A biography of Mr Blomberg notes that he holds a Master of Science degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sctockholm. He has held various general management and marketing positions in the forest industry in Scandinavia and North America.
Mr Blomberg has also gained significant industrial experience from working in the stainless steel industry, latterly as senior vice president of Outokumpu Oy. From 2006-8 Mr Blomberg has been running his own consultancy company and has undertaken a number of international commissions.
Production
Aylesford production is 410 000 tonnes of newsprint per annum from two paper machines and it employs 380 people. It is currently the second largest producer of newsprint in the UK – Shotton produces 520,000 tonnes per annum.
Next year the Palm Paper newsprint machine is due to start trials at its Kings Lynn site and will eventually be producing 400,000 tonnes per annum on the world's most modern machine. With the mill needing about 550,000 tonnes of feedstock a year, competition is expected to be fierce for used newspapers, potentially why Mr Blomberg has securing material as a main challenge.
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