TWM’s annual Projects Survey charts all new capacity being added, ordered or in final planning stages during 2024-2025, as well as noting any projects already planned for 2026 and 2027.
An impressive 132 new projects are listed in this year’s annual Projects Survey, which charts the accumulation of tissue capacity data collected across the global industry during 2024, and the projects expected to start-up in 2025 and 2026.
A further 15 projects are also already noted for start-up in 2027, totalling 147 projects between 2024-2027.
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This compares with 108 new projects listed in the three years for 2024’s survey – which charted all new capacity being added, ordered or in final planning stages during 2023-2024, and projected for 2025 – the 102 tissue projects listed in 2023’s survey, 157 listed in 2022’s survey, and the 146 tissue machine projects that were listed in 2021’s.
TWM’s annual Projects Survey gains significant intel from the magazine’s six annual, which in 2024 included in-depth interviews with tissue mills in India, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Africa, and Latin America.
Wide ranging news coverage throughout 2024 and into 2025 has also reported on the latest tissue machinery investments from across every continent. In many cases, information and investment strategy have come from leading executives themselves.
While the survey represents a detailed snapshot of production strategies in all the major tissue regions, as always caution must be considered with the survey’s findings due in large part to its sheer scope. The figures included here are based on the best information provided, and this has included extensive research into the global tissue industry over the past few years, as well as a reliance on reliable responses from the many companies contacted to detail their present and future developments.
And as is often the case, many of last years predicted start-ups have been delayed and are now planned for 2025, and some of the ‘new’ capacity announced this year includes some of last year’s estimate.
Additionally, some companies declined to comment on their projects at this time. There are also a substantial number of confidential projects, about which companies preferred not to disclose details.*
Notable points to include
As with every recent year, China leads the way with capacity expansion, this year with a total of 62 projects – including TAD machines – that either came onstream in 2024 or are expected to later in 2025 and 2026. This compared to last year’s 57 projects.
Of note also is the substantial investment in Indonesia made by Sinar Mas Group’s Asia Pulp & Paper which has plans to start up 24 Baosuo-supplied tissue machines at its OKI facility in Sumatra during 2026 and 2027.
In Brazil, 2023’s survey noted two tissue projects expected to come on stream, while last year noted seven. Bracell Cellulose alone confirmed that four of those six tissue machines started-up in 2024. For this year’s survey, Suzano Papel e Celulose is expecting to start-up its Valmet-supplied Advantage DCT 200HS in 2026.
Mexico’s Grupo Corporativo Papelera, Papel San Francisco, and Softys are all expecting or have started up capacity in 2024 or 2025.
Across the Middle East, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Paper, MEPCO, Saudi Paper Group have all invested in new capacity, as has a confidential project in the UAE.
In the UK, Turkish headquartered Eren Holding’s three tissue machines are expected to come onstream at its plant in Shotton, Wales, in 2026, whilst Fourstones Paper Mill Crescent Former came onstream in Fife, Scotland, in 2024.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s Shunfa Paper Co., Xuong Giang, and Xuan Mai Paper have or will be starting up four machines between them, supplied by Andritz – a PrimeLineCOMPACT S 1300 and a PrimeLineCOMPACT S 1800 – and Crescent Formers supplied by China’s Baosuo.
In America, five machines are listed to have come on stream or planned to: a confidential customer, which has ordered an AHEAD 2.2L supplied by Toscotec, Grupo Corporativo Papelera’s A.Celli-supplied iDEAL 2000 with Forged Yankee, Irving Consumer Products’ Valmet-supplied Advantage ThruAir machine, Sofidel’s Valmet-supplied Advantage DCT 200HS in Circleville, and Procter & Gamble’s Utah-based Andritz-supplied PrimeLineTAD.
CAUTION
*All aggregates taken from the survey should be treated with some caution. While all care has been taken to publish comprehensive data, it is inevitable that projects will be missing or details incomplete. Many projects have also been delayed, so start-up data used in last year’s Project Survey has had to be repeated.
We welcome your help to ensure as comprehensive a survey as possible for 2026.
