UPM-Kymmene Corp. announced plans to build a new fine paper machine at its Changshu mill in China and also significantly increase the mill's capacity to produce coated fine papers.
The annual paper production capacity of the new paper machine will be 450,000 tons of high quality fine paper.
Today China is the fastest growing market in the world. The economy is expected to grow about 7 percent a year. Furthermore, the Chinese fine paper market is forecast to grow rapidly and the demand is increasingly focused on high quality office papers and graphic papers. The demand will also be increased by the gradual closure of the local capacity with lower quality and high environmental load.
More than two-thirds of the Changshu mill production is sold in the Chinese market. The rest is sold in Japan and other Asia Pacific countries.
The Changshu mill began operations in 1999 and in 2000 UPM-Kymmene became a sole owner of the mill.
The new machine is scheduled to startup during the first quarter in 2005. The main raw material of the mill is tropical hardwood pulp.
After the investments, the annual production capacity of the mill will be 800, 000 tons of fine paper. The initial plan is to produce about 200,000 tons of coated paper annually. The broadened product offering enables flexible production of coated and uncoated papers according to market demand.
"The efficiency of Changshu paper mill has been good and the profitability development has met our expectations. The expansion of production is expected to further improve the profitability of the mill. UPM-Kymmene's broad and efficient Asian sales and logistics network plays a key role in expanding our operations in the area", says Juha Niemela, president and CEO of UPM-Kymmene.
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