Please find comments from Alma mill and some additional questions that I have asked from the mill.
Highlights for your sales team when talking about Stora Ocean Green vs EPO
1) Low porosity (Stora) in ocean green may result in rub off because the ink is not absorbed into the sheet. You can ask your sales team to check if the customer is having problems with ink drying and rub off. May also cause set-off in the sheet (set-off is the ink transfer from the top side to bottom side of another sheet).
2) One-sided ness. This is a big issue for printers. This means that the smooth side will have better print quality than the rougher side. Most printers prefer a sheet that has the same smoothness on both side. Ocean green has a higher smoothness on the top sheet (lower PPS number).
3) Our paper EPO is (lightly) coated vs Stora (sized). Coating is a more expensive process and give a better printing surface compare to just sizing. The brightness difference is also huge. A ten point difference can be as much as USD100/MT.
Hope this helps.
Bst regards,
Felix
PS- The mill does not consider that our paper has pin holes. There might be some lighter parts (not so even formation) in the sheet but the formation is still ok. The coating will help in plugging any holes in the sheet.
----- Forwarded by Felix Koe/VENTE/MTL/CSC on 23/12/2014 09:42 PM -----
From: Daniel Matte/ALM/CSC
To: Felix Koe/VENTE/MTL/CSC@CSC
Cc: Francois Tremblay/ALM/CSC@CSC
Date: 23/12/2014 03:46 AM
Subject: RE: Fw: Ocean green vs EPO
________________________________________
Here my comments,
We do not have the NUI number on the analysis but i check the samples and i see the Resolu paper is a little wrost but i do not think is a major difference.
1) What type of pulp is Stora using - is it also TMP like ours? I do not have info
2) The porosity seems extremely low vs EPO. How would this affect ink absorption and printability? Yes it could impact the way the ink behave while apply on the paper. it is also true in the opposite way. If the printer use normally a paper with a low porosity, he could have to do adjustment to print a paper with a lower porosity
3) I believe our paper has higher roughness but this probably due to more calendering in Stora sheet. Smoother paper is usually preferred in printing. I don't think it will affect the resolution of the printing dots too much.The EPO is equal both sides but the paper from Stora is 2 sideness. Their smoothness is equal to us on the bottom side and 1 point difference when we are around 5-6 is not a big thing.
4) Do you have any other grade that will match this sheet? Our paper is much higher brightness and the cost is therefore higher. A lower brightness grade that has close characteristics to Stora would be more competitive. We have a grade called Equal Offset. The brightness is lower but not as low as the Stora paper
5) Do let me know if you have any other comments to add. Especially any highlights to our sheet that is advantages over Stora. I feel you compare a coated sheet (EPO) with surface sizing sheet (Stora). If a surface sizing sheet is enough for them, maybe you could propose our AO+