Hanke Tissue, a subsidiary of the German MBB Industries group, is about to double its tissue capacity.
The firm is set to launch production on a new tissue line at its mill in Kostrzyn, western Poland, later this month.
Hanke Tissue awarded the order for the new PM to Italy’s Recard in 2012.
The new line, which was originally scheduled to start up in December last year, will boost the firm’s output from around 14,000tpy of tissue paper to some 32,000tpy.
RISI learned that the new machine is currently in the first stage of its ramp-up phase.
According to Hanke Tissue, all devices, and the facility’s distributed control system in particular, are undergoing tests to check if they were assembled correctly. The start of production is scheduled for the end of March.
The history of Hanke Tissue dates back to the 1930s, when the German firm Phrix built a pulp factory in Kostrzyn.
In 1990, the factory was transformed into a company owned by the State Treasury, and then sold to the Swedish paper corporation Trebruk.
As the new owner was involved in the production of copy paper, not tissue paper and related products, it spun off the tissue mill in the new firm Hanke Tissue and later sold half of its share to Hanke Papier in Dortmund, Germany.
In 1998, Hanke Papier bought the remaining 50% of Hanke Tissue and became the mill’s sole owner.
However, ownership changed again in 2006 when, due to Hanke Papier’s financial problems, MBB industries took over an 80% stake in Hanke Tissue.
Since 2011, MBB Industries has been Hanke Tissue’s sole shareholder.
