China’s Liansheng Pulp & Paper (Zhangpu) has fired up a 60,000 tonne per year tissue machine and a 1.2 million tpy virgin cartonboard machine at a greenfield site in Zhangpu, Zhangzhou city, Fujian province.
The first tissue jumbo roll came off the tissue unit, dubbed TM 1, on April 25. Provided by Andritz, the machine features a working width of 5.65 m and a design speed of 2,000 m/min and is equipped with a 20-foot steel yankee dryer.
The cartonboard machine, dubbed PM 1, churned out its first sheet of board on May 1. Provided by Valmet, the unit has a wire width of 8.85 m and a design speed of 1,400 m/min. Equipped with coating stations to offer four coating layers, the board machine is designed to produce coated ivory board in a basis weight range of 210-350 g/m².
PM 1 is partly integrated with in-house bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP), as furnish for the mid-layer of coated ivory board. A 1,200 tonne per day BCTMP line commenced trial production on May and an identical BCTMP line will be fired up soon.
More expansions ahead
The tissue machine and the virgin cartonboard machine are the first production lines to have come on stream at the site. According to Liansheng Pulp & Paper’s plan, it will build the Zhangpu site into an integrated pulp, paper and board complex that will eventually boast a total capacity of 3.9 million tpy.
Another 60,000 tpy tissue machine has been installed at the site, with startup expected imminently. The company is finishing the installation of a 600,000 tonne/yr uncoated fine paper (UFP) machine there. A company spokesperson told Fastmarkets that the UFP machine is likely to start test runs by the end of this month.
Meanwhile, a bleached hardwood kraft pulp line is also under construction there, with startup scheduled for mid-2024.
Liansheng Pulp & Paper was founded in 2020 to carry out the vast Zhangpu project. Its affiliate Liansheng Paper (Longhai) is a long-established recycled packaging board producer with 2.75 million tonnes/yr of recycled containerboard and cartonboard capacity at a facility around 60 km north of the Zhangpu complex.
The rapid capacity expansions at the new Zhangpu site will transform the company into one of the leading producers of wood pulp and virgin fiber-based paper and board in China.
This article was taken from PPI Asia, the industry’s most trusted pulp and paper market news and prices for Asia. Speak to our team to find out more and subscribe to our newsletters.
