“In Huaihua city in Hunan province, in the southwest of China, the nation’s largest BSK pulp line has started commercial production at Hunan Tiger Forest & Paper’s greenfield mill, Hunan Juntai Pulp & Paper. Supplied by Andritz, the pulp line has a design capacity of 400,000 tonnes/yr of bleached softwood kraft pulp, although it is also capable of manufacturing bleached hardwood kraft pulp.”

“The current freefall in market pulp prices in China has shown no sign of hitting the bottom. The plunge has made suppliers panic, while Chinese buyers are also nervous, wondering when prices will come out of their nosedive. Chinese traders are in an awkward position. They are both sellers and buyers, able to make or lose a fortune from purchasing and warehousing market pulp, mainly bleached softwood kraft (BSK) pulp, which they then sell on to domestic paper and board mills.”

“APP has been a strong advocate of “Plantation-Pulp-Paper” integration as the international standard practice to make a sustainable and profitable paper business in China. As the flagship enterprise under Sinar Mas Group, APP China has stakes in over 20 pulp and paper enterprises, as well as more than 20 plantation sites in China. Jensen Ko, vice-president director of APP China Forestry Division, notes that “the link between sustainability and a profitable business is clear to us. Minimizing waste and reducing emissions all contribute to a cleaner, efficient and more profitable business”.”

“there are concerns about overcapacity in the booming Chinese market and the breaks were full of discussions on the subject at the events I attended during the last week. Word has it that some mills are not running at full capacity currently amid the gloomy world economy and high inventories piled up before the Olympic games. Also, it has become more and more difficult to secure bank loans or seek funding in the stock market to purchase machines amid the uncertain economy in China and the rest of the world.”

“A total of 4.7 million tonnes of used paper and 0.5 million tonnes of used plastic were exported, with China the recipient of half the paper and 80 per cent of the plastic.
But the WRAP study found that under current conditions, this is the most carbon effective way of dealing with the waste.
Recycling waste is sent to China in containers which would otherwise make the return trip empty because there are more Chinese imports coming to the UK than exports to china.”