April 2008
By Annie Zhu, Features Editor
United Pulp and Paper Co. Inc. (UPPC) is the biggest industrial paper manufacturer in the Philippines located at Calumpit, Bulacan province, some 50 km north of Manila. The plant covers 46.6 ha of land.
With two paper machines, the mill's annual capacity is 230,000 tonnes. The products include test linerboard and corrugating medium paper, both kinds are made from OCC.
The first machine, PM 1, started production in 1974 and was supplied by Black Clawson. The machine's design speed is 450 m/min. The wire width is 3.65 meters and trim width is 3.05 meters. The corrugating medium the machine produces ranges from 115 to 150 g/m².
PM 2, which started up in 1998, is the newer paper machine, supplied by Voith- Ishikawajima Harima Industries (IHI), equipped with technology including a shoe press, a distributed control system (DCS) and a quality control system (QCS).
The machine mainly produces test linerboard, in a basis weight range of 150 to 230 g/m². PM 2's design speed is 650 m/min, wire width is 4.85 meters and trim width is 4.32 meters. Basis weight of the product varies from 150 to 230 g/m².
UPPC's capacity accounts for around 35% of the Philippines' containerboard capacity, according to a report released by Philippine Pulp & Paper Manufacturers' Association (PPPMA).
"The finished goods produced by PM 1 and PM 2 are mainly for the local market, with only 10% exported to South East Asia," says UPPC's vice president, manufacturing plant manager, Wichan Jitpukdee.
The site of the UPPC plant in Calumpit was chosen in consideration of the following factors: proximity to the major source of raw materials and a body of water (very near the Labangan River), ease of transporting the major raw material and finished goods, availability of power supply and skilled labor.
Environmentally friendly
Jipukdee says that most of the OCC used to feed the mill is sourced locally, but around 10 % comes from the US.
The UPPC manufacturing complex is powered by its own co-generation facility. The company brought a new 25-MW power plant on stream in early 2006. The Foster-Wheeler co-generation unit was fired up in January. UPP consumes 88% of the power generated, while the rest is sold to the national grid. The plant uses sludge, rice husks and other biomass as fuel.
The Peso 1.6 billion ($31 million) investment in the power plant helped to cut annual production costs at the mill. It also helped to boost production on the site's two containerboard machines from 200,000 tonnes/yr to 240,000 tonnes/yr, as the facility has a more reliable energy supply. The mill's power previously came from the national grid.
"We are very serious about energy conservation. The company's vision is to be the most preferred paper supplier in the Philippines and to be internationally competitive. We want to create success through quality, fairness and innovation with a deep concern for the environment," says UPPC's president and CEO, Chartchai Leukulwatanachai.
The country's Board of Investments has endorsed the scheme as a preferred project under its Investment Priorities Plan (IPP). The authority says the scheme is eligible for incentives under the IPP system. The investment has also received a thumbs-up from the Department of Energy.
"Our company also cares about waste water treatment," says Jipukdee, "UPPC's effluent treatment plant is one of the most technologically advanced waste water treatment facilities in the country today".
The treatment plant employs biotechnology in the form of an activated sludge process. This consists of two-stage anaerobic selector tanks followed by a series of three aeration basins.
To demonstrate the safety of the water emitted from the treatment plant, it is fed into a fishpond near the staff canteen and leisure center.
Expansion in ASEAN
Thainland's Siam Cement (SCG) owns 98.6% of UPPC through the holding company Siam Paper. RISI PPI Asia News reported in November 2007 that Siam Cement Group (SCG) plans to raise the containerboard capacity at UPPC.
"The details of the expansion haven't been nailed down yet," says Jipukdee.
Apart from the potential expansion in Philippines, SCG is also expanding in other South East Asian countries following its announcement in 2005 that it had targeted three ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries for growth: Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
SCG is building a 220,000-tonne/yr containerboard plant in Vietnam through a joint venture with Japan's Rengo. Startup is due in 2009.
The mill is due to come on stream in April next year and will produce both liner and fluting in a basis weight range of 105-275 g/m², for sale on the domestic market.
SCG has also acquired some corrugated packaging operations in Singapore and Malaysia from the Sime Darby Group and Rengo.
To strengthen the strategy to grow in Southeast Asia, SCG Paper, SCG's holding company, and Japan's Nippon Paper Group and signed a memorandum of understanding on forming an alliance in February this year.
The link-up is aimed at boosting the duo's share of the Southeast Asian printing/writing paper market, to tap into the region's strong economic growth.
The conglomerate is expanding in its home market as well, with the construction of a greenfield uncoated woodfree paper mill in Khon Kaen province.
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