Asia

CHINA

Fushun Mining Group fires up 60,000 tpy tissue paper unit in China

SHANGHAI, Sept. 30, 2011 (PPI Asia) – China’s Fushun Mining Group has kicked off mechanical tests on a 60,000 tpy tissue paper machine at a new mill in Fushun city, in the northeastern province of Liaoning.

Production will start very soon. The unit, supplied by Andritz, will have a wire width of 5.6m and a design speed of 2,000m/min.

According to the company, the output of the PM will be virgin fibre-based. Market pulp will be used to feed the machine.

Jumbo rolls from the PM will be converted into finished tissue products on site to be sold in China’s northeast.

A subsidiary named Hupo Paper has been established to operate the mill.

In addition, the company is also pressing ahead with the construction of a 300,000 tpy recycled containerboard machine at the site.

The unit, supplied by Voith Paper, is scheduled to start up by July 2012.

At more than 100 years old, Fushun Mining Group used to be one of the biggest coal mining companies in China.

It has set a goal of building a paper and board capacity of about 2m tpy. The 60,000 tpy tissue paper unit is its first foray into the industry.

Hot market

Northeast China used to be home to several major paper companies, but those state-owned enterprises lost competitiveness in the late 1990s due to poor management and outdated infrastructure.

However, the region has become a hot market for paper makers again in recent years due to short local supply, and attracted some big companies that are planning new PMs there.

By the end of 2013, Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) will start up two recycled containerboard machines at a greenfield mill in Xinmin city, Liaoning province.

PM 37 will have a capacity of 350,000 tpy of kraft-top linerboard, and PM 38 will produce 350,000 tpy of testliner. Meanwhile, APP China is expanding its tissue paper production there, and will bring two PMs with a combined capacity of 120,000 tpy online by 2012. (News from RISI)

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INDIA

India’s TNPL to diversify into tissue making

SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2011 (PPI Asia) – Tamil Nadu Newsprint & Papers (TNPL) has earmarked Rupee 2bn to build a 100 tpd tissue paper machine at its sole mill in Kagithapuram, Tamil Nadu state, India. Startup is penciled in for March 2014.

“Despite strong economic growth, India’s tissue sector remains tiny”

This will be the company’s first foray into tissue production. A move is aimed at diversifying out of its core printing and writing (P&W) business.

A contact indicated that despite strong economic growth, India’s tissue sector remains tiny and just 2-3% of the country’s population consumes tissue products. Kitchen paper and toilet tissue rolls are not popular in the country.

He said the Indian tissue market is currently in a state of oversupply, but with improving standards of living, tissue demand is expected to grow and the firm will be able to meet that growth in the future.

Newsprint production down

TNPL stopped newsprint production a few years ago due to lack of recovered paper (RCP) processing equipment at the facility.

It uses a mixture of woodpulp and bagasse pulp to feed the plant’s three machines, which have a total P&W capacity of 400,000 tpy. The firm is erecting a deinking pulp (DIP) line at the mill, with startup scheduled for March next year. The DIP line is being supplied by Andritz.

A company source said it might choose to restart newsprint production once the DIP line comes on stream, but that the decision will depend on the market.

The firm is in talks with several sellers for RCP supplies, which it needs to stock up on for the startup of the DIP plant. (News from RISI)