Chinese mill group Nine Dragons Paper has said its expansion will be based on creating high-end products from virgin materials.
On releasing profits that rose 70.4% to RMB7.1 billion (£813 million), the company said that the ban on recovered paper imports by China meant it had not been able to replace this from domestic sources to the extent it needed.
Nine Dragons chair Cheung Yan said in her report on the financial year: “With a focus on virgin kraftliner, white top linerboard and bleached folding boxboard, it will increase production capacity to 6.25 million tonnes in Hubei, Guangxi, Liaoning and Malaysia.
“It is estimated that the Group’s total design production capacity for paper manufacturing will be over 23.8 million tonnes per annum.
“Leveraging the well-established leadership of Nine Dragons Paper in the paper manufacturing industry, I am sanguine about Nine Dragons Paper’s position in the white top linerboard and bleaching folding boxboard segments.
“Looking forward, we will take our structural profitability to the next level.”
She added that demand for paper and cardboard products will increase due to the Chinese Government’s policies on the economy, replacing plastic packaging with paper, plus the growing e-commerce market.
The Chinese mill group will also continue to focus on pulp production with its recycled and wood pulp projects in China, US and Malaysia increasing its pulp capacity to 4.5 million tonnes once completed.
