TAIWAN
Cheng Loong to invest NT$1.28bn in tissue paper expansion
(News from RISI) Cheng Loong has earmarked NT$1.28bn to build a tissue paper machine at its Chu Pei mill in Hsinchu county, Taiwan.
Output on the new 32,000tpy machine, PM16, will mainly be sold on the domestic market.
The unit is slated to come online at the end of the third quarter next year.
Cheng Loong sees a potential growth of tissue consumption in the Taiwanese market, despite the island’s stagnant economy for the past several years.
The investment in PM16 also aims to replace imports of tissue paper, which are mostly shipped across from China.
Taiwan imported 16,361 tonnes of tissue jumbo rolls in January-April this year, an increase of 3.4% from the same period last year.
The Chu Pei plant currently houses two tissue machines that have a combined capacity of 48,000tpy, and a 42,000tpy cartonboard unit that manufactures coated grayback duplex board.
According to the Taiwan Paper Industry Association, total sales of tissue products on the island grew 1.8% during the first five months of this year compared to the same period last year, to 87,221 tonnes.
The growth was fuelled both by the grade’s domestic shipments and by exports, with the former up 0.8% to 77,538 tonnes and the latter climbing 10.4% to 9,683 tonnes.
Conversely, Taiwan’s graphic paper demand has been shrinking, hit by harsh economic conditions and competition from digital media.
The association’s data show that graphic paper’s total sales fell 1.4% in January-May from the year-earlier period, to 252,693 tonnes.
Domestic deliveries dropped 1.2% to 163,485 tonnes, while exports slipped 1.7% to 89,208 tonnes.
CHINA
SCA and Vinda to integrate hygiene business in China
SCA has strengthened its cooperation with Vinda International by transferring its hygiene business in China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau) to Vinda.
As part of the transaction, SCA and Vinda have signed an agreement regarding the exclusive license to market and sell the SCA brands; TENA, (incontinence products) Tork (AfH tissue), Tempo (consumer tissue), Libero (baby diapers), and Libresse (feminine care) in China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau). With this agreement, Vinda will hold the rights to these product brands in these Chinese markets.
Vinda will acquire SCA’s Dr P and Sealer brands in China.
Jan Johansson, president and chief executive of SCA, said: “With its immense number of inhabitants, ageing population and low penetration of hygiene products, China is an attractive and important market with significant potential for future growth.
“This new cooperation and transaction will generate mutual benefits for both SCA and Vinda particularly in distribution, sales, innovation and R&D.
“Vinda will get access to a broader product portfolio and SCA’s brands will have the potential to reach a broader base of consumers and customers via the extensive and robust distribution network of Vinda in China.”
SCA has been a shareholder in Vinda since 2007 and it became its majority shareholder in late 2013.
SCA’s hygiene business in China (mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau) had net sales of approximately SEK 600m in 2013.
The purchase consideration amounts to HKD 1,144m on a debt-free basis.
The agreement is subject to approval by the independent shareholders of Vinda.
Environmental concern and market competition driving upgrades at small tissue mills in China
(News from RISI) Although the Chinese tissue sector is in a state of oversupply and major mills are grabbing more market share, small players will not necessarily disappear, said Cao Zhenlei, Director of the China National Household Paper Industry Association (CNHPIA).
At a seminar held by the association and tissue producer Hebei Yihoucheng Commodity recently in Mancheng County, Hebei province, he said: “Due to the country’s vast territory, the Chinese market features a diversified structure, and small producers still have space to develop.”
Mancheng is home to some 100 small mills making around 700,000tpy of tissue, occupying one tenth of the national market.
Some leading regional firms there are investing in new PMs to enhance their position.
Hebei Yihoucheng is planning a second 25,000tpy tissue PM at a mill in Mancheng after a 25,000tpy Andritz unit came online in May.
The startup of the new machine is scheduled for next year.
Meanwhile, Baoding Gangxing Paper looks set to start up a Kawanoe Zoki machine with a capacity of 15,000tpy at its site in Mancheng.
And Hebei Xuesong Paper fired up a 25,000tpy unit supplied by the PMP Group earlier this year.
Seeking to upgrade: Mancheng’s increasing use of imported PMs can be ascribed to increasing awareness of quality and environmental factors.
Traditionally, plants there have run many small, domestically-made PMs, each unit having an annual capacity of several thousand tonnes of poor-quality tissue.
And the county’s tissue mills have long been blamed for causing serious pollution, in particular the Baiyangdian Lake incident in 2006.
The body of water, which is downstream from the tissue production hub, is the largest freshwater lake in the region.
A mass kill of fish and a dark greenish surface was reported in 2006, drawing national attention.
With environmental problems looming large in public discourse, the Chinese government has tightened pollution control measures.
Large scale obsolete capacity shutdown campaigns have been carried out for years across the country to encourage cleaner production.
Meanwhile, smog has been troubling the country, especially in the northern regions of Hebei province and Beijing.
This has forced the government to take strict measures to improve air quality.
Last winter, tissue mills in Mancheng were forced to suspend production due to heavy smog.
Moreover, local mills have been urged to rebuild their boilers to use gas instead of coal, which is thought to be the main source of the smog.
Hebei Yihoucheng was the first tissue mill in the county to use gas instead of coal to generate power.
The firm’s general manager Tian Yuwei admitted that the cost of gas is currently a little higher than that of coal. But in the long run, he believes that gas can help achieve sustainable development.
In April, China revised its environmental protection laws, with the revisions coming into effect January 1.
The new laws, believed to be the strictest on environmental protection in the country so far, will not only greatly reinforce protection measures, but also impose more severe punishments for any violations.
In the face of such pressure, the new PMs at Mancheng are believed to be a response, as they are more efficient and energy-saving than the old units, and can better meet the environmental standards in question.
Mancheng’s potential: The CNHPIA’s data showed the output of the four largest tissue firms in China last year accounted for 30.7% of total production in the country, and their sales volume accounted for around 35.4% of the industry’s total.
In 2010, the percentages were 22.6% for output and 27.9% for sales.
But most such output is from plants in China’s eastern and southern provinces. So far, there are no very big mills in northern China, which gives some room for Mancheng producers to develop.
What’s more, Mancheng is just 200 km from Beijing and Tianjin, which have a combined population of around 35 million; the proximity provides, according to the CNHPIA, great opportunities.
Thus, Cao stressed that rather than conduct pricing wars, Mancheng plants should focus more on quality and branding.
Tissue expansion: China’s tissue sector has seen rapid growth in recent years.
According to the CNHPIA, China’s tissue consumption and output in 2013 reached almost 6.04 million and 6.81 million tonnes respectively, up 7.2% and 8.5% over 2012.
The consumption of tissue per capita in China reached 4.4 kg in 2013, close to the world average consumption of 4.5 kg per capita.
In 2008, consumption was only 3.0 kg per capita in China.
The development has spurred an investment frenzy in the segment, with many new PMs firing up in the near term.
Hengan International will start up eight 60,000tpy tissue unit by 2015, raising its total capacity to almost 1.4 million tonnes/yr.
C&S Paper started up a 60,000tpy tissue PM at a greenfield site in Luoding city, Guangdong province, and a second, identical one is scheduled to come online there later this year.
Moreover, Guangxi Hwagain fired up a 60,000tpy tissue machine in March at a site in Ganzhou city, Jiangxi province.
Last year, that same mill started up a 60,000tpy tissue unit.
Meanwhile, new players are diversifying into the sector.
Sun Paper started up a 60,000tpy tissue PM in June at its flagship mill in Yanzhou city, Shandong province. A second one with the same capacity is expected to come on stream next year.
Zhejiang Jingxing Paper, a recycled containerboard producer, ordered a pair of 25,000tpy tissue units for a plant in Jiaxing city, Zhejiang province.
The first one is planned to kick off production later this year, followed by the second next year.
Shandong Sun Paper boosts capacity
China’s Shandong Sun Paper has start up an Andritz-supplied PrimeLineTM W8 with Steel Yankee at its Yanzhou mill, Shandong province.
PM27 has a design speed of 2,000m/min and a width of 5.62m. The Yankee, manufactured entirely of steel, has a diameter of 18 feet.
The turnkey supply included the complete stock preparation plant and the automation system as well as a re-evaporation and heat recovery system that recycles energy – in the form of steam – to the production process. In combination with the Steel Yankee, this enables very energy-efficient and safe production.
Start-up of a second Andrita-supplied tissue machine for Shandong Sun Paper (PM28) is scheduled for next year.
Shandong Dongshun starts up three tissue PMs, six more coming
(News from RISI) Shandong Dongshun Group has started up three new tissue PMs in China, adding a combined capacity of 48,000tpy.
All three units, provided by Kawanoe Zoki, are identical. Each has a trim width of 2.76m and a design speed of 1,000m/min and can produce tissue at a rate of 16,000tpy.
Two are located at the firm’s flagship mill in Taian city, Shandong province. The other is at a site in Zhaodong city, Heilongjiang province.
Shandong Dongshun will bring six more tissue PMs online at the Taian site by 2015.
Four will be co-supplied by the Japanese supplier and by Valmet.
Each unit, with a capacity of 25,00tpy, will have a trim width of 2.85m and a design speed of 1,300m/min.
The first two PMs will be delivered to the site this month and in September. Their startups are scheduled for the end of this year. The other two units will be fired up in the second half of 2015.
Meanwhile, Shandong Dongshun is diversifying into the hand towel segment. It has signed up Kawanoe Zoki to supply two PMs to produce the grade.
Each PM will be 2.85 m wide and have a design speed of 450m/min. The output of the PMs will be in the basis weight range of 32-50g/m².
The first unit is planned to be delivered around November 2014, followed by the second in November 2015.
Zhuji Paper considers installing new tissue PMs with a combined capacity of 30,000tpy
(News from RISI) Shaoguan Nanxiong Zhuji Paper is mulling over building two tissue PMs with a combined capacity of around 30,000tpy at a mill in Nanxiong city, Guangdong province, China.
The firm and its parent company Guangdong Shaoneng Group would fund the project, which would cost RMB 178.9 million ($29m).
The firm currently has a capacity of 65,000tpy of bamboo pulp and 35,000tpy of uncoated printing and writing paper at the same site.
Zhuji Paper has been losing money over the past years amid the weak pulp and paper market in China.
To increase profitability, the firm plans to diversify into the tissue sector, using its in-house bamboo pulp capacity as furnish.
A specific timeline for the project is unknown so far.
Yunnan Yunjing testing 30,000tpy tissue PM in China
(News from RISI) Yunnan Yunjing Forestry & Paper has kicked off mechanical tests on a new 30,000tpy tissue PM at a mill in Puer city, Yunnan province.
The Valmet unit will have a width of 2.85m and an operating speed of 1,870m/min.
The supplier’s delivery included a headbox, a press, a special alloy cast iron yankee cylinder with a hood, stock preparation equipment, and automation and quality systems.
Virgin fibre produced on site will be used to furnish the PM.
The site houses two bleached kraft pulp lines with a combined capacity of around 195,000tpy.
Luohe Yinge Tissue Paper
Luohe Yinge Tissue Paper has responded to customer demand after it started up NipcoFlex T shoe presses in two tissue lines supplied by Voith.
General manager ShiJin Zhang said the investment means the company can “consolidate and expand our position in the Chinese market”.
He said: “We are now in a position to meet the increasing requirements of our customers regarding quality and quantity and have thus achieved our aim.”
In 2012, Voith delivered two identical lines for the production of tissue paper in a basis weight range of 12–30g/m2 to Luohe Yinge Tissue Paper to China.
The lines include the entire stock preparation, the wet end process and the tissue machines, from the headbox to the reel.
QiFeng Wang, Luohe Yinge Tissue Paper vice general manager, said: “After this most recent investment we can obtain a dry content after the press which is 5% higher than with conventional technologies.
“Thus we save 20% of thermal energy in the dryer section.”
Luohe Yinge Tissue Paper was founded 20 years ago in the province of Henan, China.
The Voith tissue machines are designed for an operating speed of 1,900m/min and to produce 60,000tpy.
Chongqing Well Mind starts up 30,000tpy tissue PM in China
(News from RISI) – Chongqing Well Mind Paper has started up a 30,000tpy tissue PM at its mill in Chongqing municipality.
Supplied by A Celli, the machine has a trim width of 2.85m and a design speed of 2,000m/min.
The first sheet of paper rolled off the line on 21 May and the unit is gradually ramping up production.
The firm signed up Acelli in 2010, but the project hit a delay, and civil engineering work did not kick off until 2012.
In addition to the new PM, the site currently has a capacity of around 24,000tpy of tissue.
Sichuan Yibin to start 350,000tpy cartonboard PM; tissue units under consideration
(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.
Shandong Dongshun testing new 16,000tpy tissue PM, more to come
(News from RISI) China’s Shandong Dongshun Group is testing a new 16,000tpy tissue PM at its mill in Taian city, Shandong province.
The Kawanoe Zoki unit has a trim width of 2.76m and a design speed of 1,000m/min.
The firm will also soon install an identical PM at the same site.
In addition, another pair of tissue PMs will be delivered to the Taian mill in July and September respectively.
Their startups are scheduled for the end of this year. Each with a trim width of 2.85m and a design speed of 1,300m/min, they will be co-supplied by Valmet and the Kawanoe Zoki.
The two suppliers agreed that Kawanoe Zoki is responsible for the marketing, manufacturing, and installation of the machines.
The units are to be produced at the Japanese supplier’s plant in China, and some key components including headboxes, Yankee cylinders and suction pressure rolls are from Valmet.
The suppliers will supply two more PMs, identical to the first pair, to Shandong Dongshun.
The second pair is scheduled to come online in the second half of 2015.
In addition to its expansion in Shandong, the tissue maker will test a 16,000tpy Kawanoe Zoki PM at the end of May at its site in Zhaodong city, in China’s northwestern province of Heilongjiang.
The unit is 2.76m wide and has a design speed of 1,000m/min.
The Zhaodong site currently runs a 12,000tpy tissue machine.
Diversifying into hand towels: Shandong Dongshun has long been focusing on the production of toilet paper and facial tissue, and it is now diversifying into the paper hand towel sector.
According to Kawanoe Zoki, it will supply two PMs making the grade to the firm’s Taian facility.
Each will have a trim width of 2.85m and a design speed of 450m/min. Output of the PMs will have a basis weight range of 32-50g/m².
The first PM is planned to be delivered around November 2014, followed by the second in November 2015.
The tissue sector in China is currently confronting an oversupply issue due to a quick increase of capacity over recent years.
Instead of focusing on toilet and facial tissue products, more producers are tapping into varied end use markets, with hand towels as one such new direction.
JAPAN
Tokushu Tokai pushes back schedule for startup of two tissue PMs in Japan
(News from RISI) Japan’s Tokushu Tokai Paper has rescheduled the timeline for two new tissue paper machines at its mill in Shimada city, Shizuoka prefecture.
The firm will erect two identical 18,000tpy PMs at the plant, while retiring two 18,000tpy units at the Yokoi facility, also in Shimada.
The two new 2.2m wide machines were originally planned to come on stream in April 2014 and April 2015.
Their startup has now been pushed back, with the first unit, PM1, slated to be commissioned in October this year, while PM2 is expected to be operational in December 2015.
The two existing tissue paper machines at the Yokoi mill will be closed prior to the startup of each of the new machines at the Shimada facility.
The cost of the two PMs will total ¥4.2 billion ($41 million), according to the company.
Tokushu Tokai said that tissue products made on the new machines will have better bulk prosperity with higher absorbency in lower basis weights, compared to the two existing PMs.
It also explained that production at the Shimada mill will be cost-saving.
The company has earmarked ¥8 billion to install a biomass boiler at the Shimada plant, which will enable it to cut spending on electricity and fossil fuel.
Construction work for the biomass boiler will kick off in September this year.
It is expected to come into operation in October 2016.
MIDDLE EAST
Hayat Kimya expands further into the Middle East
Turkish tissue producer Hayat Kimya has ordered its fifth Advantage DCT 200 tissue line from Valmet.
The line will add 70,000 tonnes of high quality tissue to the company’s current production of facial, toilet and towel tissue.
Start-up of the line is planned for 2016 and the value of the order has not been disclosed.
The move is part of Hayat Kimya’s expansion plan into the Middle East.
The first two of the Valmet delivered Advantage DCT 200 tissue lines were started up in 2010 and 2013 and two will start up in 2014 and 2015.
