(News from RISI) – China’s Sichuan Yibin Paper is erecting a new 350,000tpy cartonboard PM at a greenfield mill in Yibin city, Sichuan province.
It is expecting to finish construction around August. Trial runs will commence soon after that, said a spokesperson from the firm.
The PM, which is being supplied by China Paper Equipment, will have a design speed of 900m/min and a daily capacity of 1,050 tonnes. It is planned to produce food packaging.
The company used to operate three PMs with a total capacity of around 200,000tpy of newsprint, food packaging board, and printing and writing paper at a nearby site, which was shut down in 2011.
Sichuan Yibin Paper is also mulling over building tissue PMs with a combined capacity of around 100,000tpy at the new mill.
The spokesperson said that the firm has been out of production for almost two years and is looking for new opportunities for development.
Moreover, Sichuan is abundant in bamboo, and the firm plans to make use of integrated bamboo pulp capacity to make tissue.
The source said that the tissue project is still at the planning stage, but the PMs are expected to come online in two years if everything goes smoothly.
The firm is going to raise up to RMB 1.08 billion ($175.6 million) to fund its new cartonboard and tissue PMs via a private placement.
The plan has been greenlit by the firm’s board of directors, and needs further approval by the Chinese authorities.
Sichuan Yibin, listed on the Shanghai stock exchange, reported its 2013 sales at RMB 10.5 million, down 43.34% over 2012.
Its net profit plunged by 87.06% year-on-year to RMB 7.3 million.
