RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, announced that Mondi SCP has received the coveted PPI Supply Chain Award which was presented at the PPI Awards event recently in Dubai. Supply chain management has become increasingly important in the pulp and paper industry as producers and end-users look to find ways to solve expensive bottlenecks and carry less stock for more on-demand supply.

The Supply Chain Award, which was sponsored by the Port of Antwerp, is a new entry in the PPI Awards categories and was, according to the criteria, awarded to the mill that demonstrated the best coordinated and connected supply chain that delivers in the most efficient fashion while taking into account cost and environmental factors.

Mondi SCP faced tough completion from sister company Mondi Syktyvkar and Ecologic Brands, which were both shortlisted by the panel of esteemed PPI Awards judges. Commenting on the win, the judges said: “Mondi SCP has been innovative in setting up a number of systems to streamline its supply chain processes, all with the customer at the core of its strategic planning. The company has worked hard to ensure it not only provides its customers with excellent quality ordered goods at an agreed price, but also gives them excellent service. A number of initiatives were implemented including improvements in the monthly sharing of mill time slots.”

Luc Arnouts, Chief Commercial Officer at the Antwerp Port Authority, said: “By creating and sponsoring this new award category at the PPI Awards, the Port of Antwerp is keen to support pulp and paper companies making efforts to optimize their supply chain.”  The Port of Antwerp is a major European forest products port with a highly skilled labour force, many value-added activities, a strategic inland location close to the main European pulp and paper mills and excellent hinterland connections that ensure all forest products cargo in Antwerp are handled fast, cost-effectively and with care.

The Port currently handles an annual volume of around 3 million tonnes of forest products such as timber, lumber, wood pulp, kraftliner, newsprint and fine paper, of which some 1.2 million tonnes is conventional, non-containerised cargo.The Port is constantly surveying the market to stay current with the supply chain needs of its paper and pulp customers and prospects as well as to offer services and solutions to meet these requirements.