(News from RISI) – Turkish tissue producer Hayat Kimya has inaugurated its 70,000tpy Alabuga tissue mill located in Tatarstan, Russia.
The mill, which occupies a 73,000m2 site in the special economic zone Alabuga, employs approximately 400 people.
Alabuga’s sole 5.6m wide PM, supplied by Valmet, has a design speed of 2,200 m/min. It was brought online in mid-December 2014.
The mill produces virgin fibre-based toilet paper, paper napkins and kitchen towels under the Papia and Familia brand names.
The Alabuga mill is Hayat Kimya’s first tissue plant in Russia. The total cost of the investment is $150 million.
Turkey expansion
The company has also started up its up 70,000tpy tissue machine at Mersin mill in Turkey.
Hayat Kimya started production at its new mill in Mersin in southern Turkey with the startup of Valmet-supplied PM5 on March 17.
It is now producing saleable paper for the company’s own converting plant, paper group director Lütfi Aydin told RISI.
PM5 has a capacity of 70,000tpy of facial, toilet and towel grades, made from virgin fibre.
It has a width of 5.6m and a design speed of 2,200m/minute.
The Mersin mill currently employs 276 people, but this figure will rise to 300 by the end of the year, according to Aydin. He declined to reveal how much the Mersin mill has cost to build.
Hayat Kimya already operates one mill in Izmit, northwestern Turkey, housing two machines with a combined capacity of some 140,000tpy of tissue and a 65,000tpy tissue mill in Zencan in Iran.
The company is also preparing to start up a 70,000tpy tissue plant in Ain Sokhna in Egypt in October 2016.
Elsewhere, the business has also signed up Valmet to rebuild its TM1 at its mill in Yeniköy, near the city of Izmit in Turkey.
The rebuild will be with Valmet’s Advantage DCT technology and according to the supplier will increase energy efficiency, improve product properties as well as performance, runnability and work environment.
Start-up of the rebuild machine is scheduled for November 2015.
Hayat Kimya has previously ordered five tissue machine lines from Valmet in the past eight years.
TM2, 3, 4 and 5 are already producing high quality paper with high capacity and speed, while TM6 will start-up in 2016.
