CHINA
YFY INSTALLS NEW PM IN BEIJING

Taiwan's Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing (YFY) has started installation work for an 18,000 ton/yr tissue paper machine at its mill in Beijing, China. Trial runs are slated for November, with commercial production set to follow one month later. Construction work at the mill site was put on hold in July ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

The 2.4 m wide crescent former machine, which will have a maximum operating speed of 1500 m/min, is being supplied by PMP Group. The unit will be able to produce virgin tissue paper in a basis weight range of 13-31.3 g/m², for converting into facial tissue, toilet rolls and kitchen towels.

YFY's Beijing facility already houses converting equipment with a capacity of 12,000 tons/yr, which is currently fed with tissue paper from the firm's mill in Kunshan city, Jiangsu province, also in China. After the new PM starts up, the Beijing plant will use paper from that instead.

News from RISI (www.risiinfo.com)


PMPOLAND OPENS NEW MANUFACTURING PLANT

On 1 September, PMPoland held the opening ceremony of a new facility, PMP IB (Changzhou) Machinery & Technology, located in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, China. PMP decided to establish the new manufacturing facility "to join first class technology & standards with low cost, high quality manufacturing in Asia. The combination of the large market potential of the Chinese and South East Asian regions combined with high quality PMP products allowed us to reach a business level which justified an investment in a new facility in China. The anticipated structure of the business includes complete tissue machines, components for paper machines, non-paper products and subcontracting for PMPoland S.A. and PMP Americas," the company announced.

"Being present in China with our own manufacturing will also encourage our Chinese customers to accept the products of the PMP Group," the company said in a press release. "The cultural aspect of having a manufacturing plant in China will play an important role in market development."

The target market areas for PMP IB are: direct deliveries for the South-east Asian region for the tissue and paper industry; sub-deliveries for PMPoland for paper and tissue projects executed in Europe, USA and some Asian countries; sub-deliveries for PMP Americas for the non-paper segment of the business in USA.

PMP IB is located in the Wujin Economic Development Zone which is a suburb of Changzhou city. Changzhou has a population of about 4.5 million people and is located approximately 160 km from Shanghai in Jiangsu province.

PMP IB will employ 130 workers and will be equipped with modern machining tools. Further information from marketing@pmpgroup.com.

PMP INTELLI-TISSUE™ 900 PM FOR ANHUI BILUN

Anhui Bilun Tissue Paper (Smile) is in the final stages of installing a new 51 ton/day Intelli-Tissue 900 tissue machine from PMP at its Greenfield mill in Maanshan, Anhui province. The machine will trim at 2.8 m and run at up to 1100 m/min making tissue of 13-18 g/m2 when it comes on stream early next year.


METSO TO INCREASE OWNERSHIP IN VALMET-XI'AN

Metso has received regulatory approval to acquire a 75% ownership in its Chinese joint venture Valmet-Xi'an Paper Machinery. The value of the share transactions, which were finalized in September, is approximately €5 million. In addition, the joint venture will acquire certain land use rights and facilities for about €8-9 million. Valmet-Xi'an Paper Machinery has become a part of Metso Paper business area and it is included in Metso's third quarter review.

Prior to the transactions Metso's ownership in Valmet-Xi'an was 48.3%. Metso acquired all the shares owned by Finnfund, and part of the shares owned by the other joint venture partner, Xian Paper Making Machinery Works. After the transaction Xian Paper Making Machinery Works has 25% of the shares.

The Valmet-Xi'an joint venture is an important member of Metso's production network. The company supplies narrow and medium-size paper, board and pulp drying machines mainly to the Chinese market. It also participates in Metso's other deliveries to China and other market areas. The joint venture employs 1,060 people and its annual net sales are approximately €30 million, out of more than half has been sales to Metso.

By extending the joint venture agreement and by acquiring a majority ownership, Metso further strengthens its position as the leading supplier of machinery and technology to the Chinese pulp and paper industry.