Profits soar at containerboard major Lee & Man

Asia – Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd, one of China’s largest containerboard producers as well as a huge consumer of recovered fibre, saw its net profits skyrocket 76% last year to HK$ 5.04 billion (US$ 640 million). This was equivalent to a net profit of HK$ 913 (US$ 116) per ton.

An overall increase in sales revenues as well as China’s value-added tax refund policy enabled ‘satisfactory growth’ in the group’s profit margin, comments its chairman Dr Raymond Lee.

The Chinese government’s efforts to eliminate obsolete production facilities while implementing environmentally-friendly policies ‘helped gradually reduce excess capacity in the industry during the year’, he adds.

Demand for the group’s products improved during the course of 2017 while prices were pushed higher by a ‘surge’ in energy, raw materials and transportation costs, Lee also notes. Highlighting in particular the rapid development of e-commerce and online shopping, the group’s chairman insists that overall paper consumption still has ‘considerable room for growth’.

Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing boasts an annual production capacity of a fraction over 6 million tons of containerboard, as well as 180 000 tons of pulp and 685 000 tons of tissue paper.