Chinese wood company Zhejiang Element has revealed plans to move into cardboard manufacturing with its first mill to be built in Malaysia.
The firm has submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment to the Malaysia Government that outlines its goals through its subsidiary Yuhua Paper Industry.
Over three phases it plans to have increased production to 700,000 tonnes per year by 2024.
In the first phase it is aiming to produce 100,000 tonnes of core board paper by 2022. The second phase will see it manufacturing 250,000 tonnes of kraft paper board by 2023. The final phase will lead to production of 250,000 tonnes of corrugated medium paper by 2024.
Yuhua Paper Industry will use a combination of imported waste paper from United States, Japan, Europe, Australia and other countries, plus local recycling centres. It may also import pulp from China and some Malaysian-grown eucalyptus trees.
In the first phase, the company will use 112,371 tonnes of OCC for 100,000 tonnes of production. Of this, 50,302 tonnes will be sourced from USA, 40,069 tonnes from local markets and 22,000 tonnes from Japan, Europe or Australia.
The second phase will use 71,250 tonnes of softwood/hardwood pulp, 86,747 tonnes of US OCC, 66,000 tonnes of local OCC and 49,500 tonnes of OCC from Japan, Europe or Australia. This will result in 250,000 tonnes of finished product.
Finally, the third phase will see a further 350,000 tonnes of production, using 196,052 tonnes of US OCC, 108,819 tonnes of local OCC, and 92,237 tonnes of OCC from Japan, Europe or Australia.
It isn’t clear how Yuhua Paper Industry will import material, but it said in its submission that it has “already formed a perfect supply network of raw and auxiliary materials. Therefore, the supply of raw materials will be sufficient whereby they will be sourced locally or in the overseas market subject to the market price.”
By the time the final phase is completed, there will be four lines with two in the second phase and one in the first and third.
It will be located inland in Pekan Bukit Selambau in the District of Kuala Muda, where Zhejiang Element has recently completed a wood furniture manufacturing facility.
Zhejiang Element is mainly engaged in the production, management and sale of furniture and wood products.
Other Chinese paper and cardboard manufacturers operating in Malaysia include Nine Dragons Paper and Lee & Man Paper.
