By Annie Zhu, Features Editor, PPI magazine, RISI
SHANGHAI,
June 20, 2008 (Viewpoint) -
It was a busy and exciting month as I attended two important events in the paper and pulp industry – SPCI in Stockholm and also the 9th RISI Asian Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference in Shanghai.
Chinese faces were rare at the biggest European exhibition and conference of the year. Meanwhile the passion for the Eastern market among suppliers is increasing.
When asking the main suppliers to the industry about the Chinese paper and pulp industry’s future amid higher fuel and labor costs along with fiber shortages, the answers were surprisingly positive.
Metso will expand its production capacity and office facilities in Shanghai, China, through an investment of Euro 20 million. The investment supports the company’s global presence strategy by increasing production resources in Asia’s growing markets.
Voith Paper is very optimistic too: “We have every confidence with regard to China’s paper and pulp industry as we know that the country is planting in the south and also working hard on paper collecting to solve fiber shortage issues. However, water is an issue and how to get Chinese mills to reduce water usage is something we would like to help with,” says Hans-Peter Sollinger, president of the company.
Other emerging areas the suppliers are watching include India and Russia.
“India is taking off, while the business in Russia still face challenges, especially political issues,” says Bertel Langenskiöld, president of Metso Paper.
“Several large projects are expected to be decided during the second half of 2008. We are actively quoting projects in Uruguay, Australia, Brazil, and China,” says Andritz.
While western suppliers are looking east, Chinese suppliers are going to the west to attract their clients. Chinese companies I met at SPCI included among others Zhejiang Linuo Valve Co, Ltd, Xuzhou Industrial Fabric Factory, Shandong Institute of Advanced Ceramics, Hebei Asian Sage Industry Co., Ltd, and Jiefeng Machinery.
“It’s the first time I have attended an exhibition in a Nordic country, I find it a bit quieter than I expected, compared to Chinese events but it’s good to be exposed to the western world,” says Zhang Feng, Jiefeng Machinery.
Fiber shortage
The other exciting event was the recent 9th RISI Asian Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference, held in early June, straight after SPCI.
Unlike the current western market, where people focus on energy efficiency and clean fuel, the Asian market keeps an eye on the crucial issue for further development – forestry and fiber, which China is especially short of.
Alternative fiber, including bamboo pulp lines are one of the solutions. Guizhou Chitianhua Paper Industry’s presentation aroused attention among the attendees. The bamboo pulp mill, Chitianhua, in inland China is the largest single-line bamboo pulp mill in the world.
“China has the richest bamboo resource in the word. The bamboo forest areas that are utilizable for papermaking are estimated at around 2 million hectares, while bamboo volume reaches around 135 million tonnes. China’s bamboo output is estimated to reach 1.7 million tonnes by 2015,” says Zhang Ding Jun, chief engineer of the company.
Lee & Man, one of the biggest containerboard players in Asia is also looking into building pulp lines to feed their paper machines. Now the company has one SBSK mill in Samoa, California and one BHK mill in Chongqing, China. The company is also looking into building pulp lines in Vietnam.
Clearly, East and West are becoming closer as both sides of the world tackle similar issues with regards to fiber and energy, it’s good to know that hard work is being done behind the scenes by both suppliers and producers to alleviate these problems.
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