Hamburger Containerboard to add capacity in Turkey

Hamburger Containerboard, part of the Austria-based Prinzhorn Group, has announced that its Hamburger Turkey Ltd. subsidiary has purchased land to set up a new containerboard production facility in Kütahya, Turkey.

The company says the land purchase is part of a €300 million ($357 million) investment designed to have a new 480,000-metric-tons-per-year containerboard mill in place in Turkey by 2020.

“Turkey is an important market for us and this investment shows our strong commitment to this fast growing region,” says Cord Prinzhorn, CEO of the Prinzhorn Group. “If all relevant factors, such as governmental permissions and political stability, show a green light we are happy to proceed with the next project steps.”

“We are excited to have found such an excellent location for this project,” says Harald Ganster, the managing director of the Hamburger Containerboard Division. “This additional paper mill will help us to secure our high-quality paper supply to our customers.”

Hamburger Turkey Ltd. says it has signed a purchase agreement for a parcel of land situated 250 kilometers (155 miles) southeast of Istanbul. The paper machine to be installed will have what Hamburger calls “state-of-the-art technology” to produce “mainly lightweight testliner and fluting,” says the company.

Hamburger Containerboard Division currently operates seven paper mills in four countries with a combined two million metric tons of annual production. Its two existing paper mills in Turkey are based in Corlu and Denizli.

The Prinzhorn Group employs 6,300 people in 15 countries involved in the recycling, paper and packaging industries. With annual sales of €1.23 billion ($1.46 billion), the family-owned Prinzhorn Group is structured into three divisions: Dunapack Packaging (corrugated packaging products); Hamburger Containerboard (production of containerboard); and Hamburger Recycling Group (collection and trading of secondary raw materials).