Major tissue-making surge at Lee & Man

Asia – Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing, one of China’€™s largest recovered fibre consumers and containerboard manufacturers, has reported a record-high net profit for the opening six months of 2016. The 28% year-on-year increase to HK$ 1.43 billion (US$ 186 million) was achieved on total revenues of HK$ 8.37 billion (US$ 1.09 billion) and a sales volume of 2.67 million tons.

‘The demand for packaging paper in China is expected to grow steadily in the long run,’ observes group chairman Dr Raymond Lee. ‘Although paper consumption per capita in China has been increasing year after year, it is still way behind that of developed countries. Hence, it is obvious that the market still has plenty of room to develop.’

Trends towards e-commerce and online shopping have ‘completely changed the market and consumption mode’, while also creating ‘boundless business opportunities to the packaging industry’.

Adding in the Chinese government’s efforts to oust obsolete production capacities and correct excess supply in the market, the group is ‘confident about the outlook of the paper industry’, he states.

In terms of containerboard, the group has an annual production capacity of 5.23 million tons. However, it is also flexing its muscle in the tissue market: at present, four production lines are capable of producing 135 000 tons per annum at Chongqing but the addition of a total of eight more lines at Chongqing, Jiangxi and Guangdong – some later this year and the remainder before the end of 2017 – will hike the group’s annual tissue-making capacity to 575 000 tons.

Meanwhile, the group’s paper production project at Hau Giang in Vietnam – with an annual production capacity of 400 000 tons – is expected to begin operation in the fourth quarter of this year.