Andritz highlights pellet, bioenergy orders in financial results

Andritz Group has released financial results for the first half of 2016, reporting good project and investment in the biomass pelleting sector and noting several orders related to bioenergy projects.

According to a financial report issued by Andritz, the company received orders for biomass pelleting equipment from customers in North America and Asia. Also regarding its business in the pellet sector, Andritz said it acquired individual assets of Anbo Machining (Blenheim) Ltd., Canada, in April 2016 and transferred them to the newly established company ANBO Inc. “In the separation segment, this acquisition strengthens the product portfolio in the manufacturing and services sector for wood pelleting equipment in North America,” said the company.

Within the financial report, Andritz also highlighted several bioenergy-related orders received during the first half of the year. The company received an order from the regional Danish municipality Helsingør Kraftvarmeværk to deliver a biomass boiler island for its combined-heat-and-power (CHP) plant. The new boiler will replace natural gas use by burning forest residue, bark, sawdust, and wood chips. According to Andritz, the project represents the first biomass boiler the company has supplied to a customer in Denmark.

In Norway, Saugbrugs Bioenergi AS, a part of the Norske Skog Group, selected Andritz to supply a new sludge dewatering line for thinking and dewatering fibrous sludges for its mill in Halden. The investment aims to increase the capacity for anaerobic treatment in order to produce marketable biogas for use as fuel in public transport vehicles.

Overall, Andritz reported sales of €2.76 billion ($3.06 billion) for the first half of 2016, down 8.1 percent from the sale period of 2015. During the first half of the year, order intake of €2.57 billion was practically the same as the same period of the prior year and the order backlog for the first half of this year amounted to €7.32 billion.  EBITA was €183 billion and net income increased to €120.2 billion.