Metso to supply cartonboard production line to Lee & Man Paper in Guangdong, China

HELSINKI, Aug. 25, 2010 (Press Release) - Metso will supply a coated cartonboard production line to Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Co., Ltd to the company's Hongmei mill in Guangdong province, China. The start-up of the new production line is scheduled for the end of 2011. The value of the order is not disclosed. A typical value of a board production line of this type is about EUR 70-90 million, depending on the scope of delivery and production output.

Metso's delivery will include a complete white lined chipboard machine, from four-ply multi-Fourdrinier forming section, equipped with a ValFormer top forming unit, to WinDrum Compact winder, with related air systems. The OptiCycle C ultrafiltration process in the coating color kitchen will effectively regenerate and recycle coating effluent.

The new 7.25-m-wide (wire) production line has a design speed of 800 m/min. The daily production capacity will be approximately 1,800 tonnes of white lined chipboard, in the basis weight range of 170-450 g/m2.

Lee & Man Paper and Metso have a long and prosperous co-operation, a good example of which are the Changshu PM 8 and Hongmei PM 9 kraftliner machines delivered earlier.

Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is one of China's largest paper and pulp producers and it employs currently over 7,000 people. The company, founded in 1994, is listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2009, Lee & Man had a combined annual production capacity of close to 4.5 million tonnes of paper and 300,000 tonnes of pulp. In the financial year ending March 2010 the Group's net sales amounted to about EUR 1.3 billion.