Industry Trends

In recent years, Hubei Province, located at the crossroads of nine provinces in central China, has become the main battlefield for the paper industry. Projects with a production capacity of hundreds of thousands of tons have been emerging one after another. Hubei Province has seized the opportunity of the industry's reshuffle, promoted the industrial layout of high-quality enterprises, and promoted the development of the paper industry with higher environmental protection standards. Gold and silver are not as good as green mountains and clear waters. Adhering to the development direction of green and environmentally friendly papermaking, this shows the attention of the Hubei government to paper projects. 

The development goals are inclined towards the construction of environmental protection projects, supporting large-scale enterprises, eliminating backward production capacity enterprises, and through adjusting the raw material structure and product structure, eliminating backward production capacity and transforming the traditional paper industry into a modern green paper industry. This will continuously improve equipment levels, reduce resource consumption, and minimize pollution emissions to the lowest level. In recent years, with the successive entry of major paper projects such as Jinfeng Paper Industry's 1.6 million-ton high-strength corrugated paper project in Xiaogan, Jianli Xiangxing Paper Industry's 1 million-ton packaging paper project, Hubei Rongcheng Paper Industry's 2 million-ton high-grade boxboard and cogeneration project, Huanggang Chenming's 130.6 million-ton integrated paper-pulp-synthetic fiber project, Guang'an Shanying's 22 million-ton high-grade packaging project, Shanghai Zhongneng's 3 million-ton environmentally friendly packaging paper project, and Chibi Deli's 18 million-ton high-end packaging paper project, the scale of paper industry projects has reached tens of millions of tons. The paper industry in Hubei Province has thus moved towards becoming a major packaging paper production province in Central China. 

Wuhan Golden Phoenix Paper Industry Co., Ltd. and Hubei Baoli Paper Industry Co., Ltd. jointly reorganized Golden Phoenix Paper Industry (Xiaogan) Co., Ltd. to build a large-scale packaging paper papermaking project with an annual output of 1.6 million tons. This project is located at No. 612, Xiawu Avenue, Xiaogan City, beside the 107 National Highway, in Mao Chen Town. The company enjoys a unique geographical location and extremely convenient transportation. The total area of the company (including the original Hubei Baoli Paper Industry Co., Ltd.) is 730 mu. In addition to the existing packaging paper production line with an annual output of 200,000 tons that has been put into production, this project also plans to invest 3.29 billion yuan in the first phase to expand the production capacity to 1.1 million tons of packaging paper. The construction period is 6 years. The first phase plans to invest 1.4 billion yuan to build a production line for low-dryness high-strength corrugated base paper with an annual output of 400,000 tons, which is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2016. The second phase plans to invest 1.89 billion yuan to build production lines for 600,000 tons of recycled environmental-friendly boxboard and 100,000 tons of paper tube base paper. The third production line under planning is under construction and the third phase construction will be carried out based on the production situation. The entire project is expected to be completed and put into operation by the first half of 2020. 

The 2.2 million-ton annual production project of high-grade packaging paper by Shanying Huazhong Paper Industry has started construction in Qingji Industrial Park of Guangong County. It will be divided into two phases, with a total of 8 production lines. Among them, the first phase will complete 1 production line of 300,000 tons/year of kraft boxboard, 1 production line of 300,000 tons/year of low-yield kraft paper, 1 production line of 180,000 tons/year of low-yield corrugated base paper, and 1 production line of 320,000 tons/year of white kraft paper; the second phase will build 2 production lines of 300,000 tons/year of low-yield kraft paper, 1 production line of 180,000 tons/year of low-yield corrugated base paper, and 1 production line of 320,000 tons/year of food packaging paper. 

In addition, the project also includes two phases of cogeneration projects. The first phase involves the construction of 3 410-ton/hour high-temperature and high-pressure circulating fluidized bed boilers (2 in use and 1 as backup), along with 2 60-megawatt back-pressure steam turbine generator sets; the second phase involves the construction of 2 410-ton/hour high-temperature and high-pressure circulating fluidized bed boilers, along with 2 60-megawatt back-pressure steam turbine generator sets. Both phases are equipped with environmental protection facilities such as desulfurization, denitrification, dust removal systems, and public utility facilities such as water supply and drainage systems. 

Recent large-scale infrastructure and technological renovation investment projects in Hubei Province: 

Hubei Rongcheng 170万吨 Paperboard Project 

Hubei Rongcheng Paper Industry has three paper machines. Among them, the No. 1 machine is a three-layer mesh paper machine with a width of 6.6 meters and a designed speed of 1000 meters per minute. It mainly produces 140-230 grams per square meter of kraft boxboard and has an annual production capacity of approximately 400,000 tons. The pulp equipment is provided by German Voith Company, and the main equipment of the paper machine is provided by Finland Wirtex and Taiwan Yu Li. Among them, Wirtex provides three water-powered pulp boxes and two pairs of shoe presses, and Yu Li provides all the drying cylinders, membrane transfer sizing machines, two pairs of hard calendering machines, and the finishing part's winding and rewinding equipment. 

At present, the project has completed an investment of 3.7 billion yuan in fixed assets, and the first phase of the 850,000-ton pulp and paper production line has been fully put into operation. The two cumulative 650,000-ton pulp and paper production lines in the second phase of the project have also been completed and put into production. Given the high recognition of the investment environment in Songzi, Rongcheng Company also plans to make a simultaneous additional investment of 800 million yuan to increase production capacity by 200,000 tons, making the total production capacity reach 1.7 million tons. 

(2) Hubei Shanying 220,000-ton Packaging Paper Project 

On July 28, 2017, the foundation-laying ceremony for the 2.2 million-ton packaging paper project of Shanying Paper Industry was held in the industrial park of Yangjia Factory Town, Gong'an County, Jingzhou City. This production base is another strategic layout of Shanying Group in China. The project will be constructed in two phases, with a total of 8 production lines, and will produce kraft boxboard, low-yield kraft paper, low-yield corrugated base paper, white surface kraft paper, and food packaging paper. The project will be constructed in two phases, with a total investment of 1.816 billion yuan, and the proposed use of raised funds is 1.3 billion yuan. 

After the project is completed, it will be able to ensure the heat and power requirements for the company's Huazhong Shanying's annual production of 2.2 million tons of high-grade packaging paperboard. This will significantly reduce the company's costs for using steam and electricity, and also meet the steam and electricity demands of surrounding enterprises. 

This project intends to be carried out by increasing capital in the wholly-owned subsidiary, Hubei Shanying. It will fully utilize the existing technical reserves, research and development achievements, as well as the large-scale production organization capabilities of the Shanying Group. 

(3) Wuhan Golden Phoenix Paper Industry's 600,000-ton/year high-strength corrugated paper production project 

The second phase project of the 600,000-ton high-strength corrugated base paper production line, located in Xiaogan, has been completed and put into operation. The 100,000-ton annual production line of paper tube base paper has been fully launched. Five factory buildings are under construction, along with 2×130-ton/hour steam boilers, a 14,000-m3/d wastewater treatment station, a 18,000-m3/d water supply treatment station, and other related public auxiliary and environmental protection facilities. After full operation, the industrial output value can reach 5.6 billion yuan, and the profit and tax will be approximately 750 million yuan. 

(4) Hubei Jinzhuang Project for Producing 200,000 Tons of Packaging Paper and Implementing Combined Heat and Power Generation, with an Annual Capacity 

The second phase project of Hubei Jinzhuang Technology Recycled Resources Co., Ltd. involves an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of packaging paper and 12 megawatts of cogeneration power. Currently, the main control building of the cogeneration project has been completed, and all the main equipment of the boilers has been installed. The supporting facilities are being installed. It is expected that the equipment will undergo a joint test run and be put into trial production in May 2018. After the second phase project is put into operation, it can supply 100,000 tons of steam annually and have an annual power generation capacity of 100 million kilowatt-hours. It can produce 300,000 tons of packaging paper annually, generating profits of 50 million yuan and providing employment for 600 people. At the same time, due to the cogeneration project being able to achieve centralized heating, all the small-tonnage, low-efficiency and high-pollution coal-fired boilers in Jinqiao Industrial Park will be eliminated, and the total amount of air pollutants discharged in the park will be effectively reduced. 

(5) Hubei Xiangxing 1 million tons high-grade packaging paper project 

Hubei Xiangxing Paper Industry Technology Co., Ltd. is the first pulp and paper manufacturing enterprise in the Pearl River Delta region that successfully relocated to Central China due to environmental protection pressure. The company was approved to be established by the Administration for Industry and Commerce of Jianli County, Hubei Province on June 5, 2014. The project is planned to have a total investment of approximately 1.24 billion yuan. It intends to build a 1 million-ton high-grade packaging paper plant, and the construction will be carried out in three phases. The first phase project includes two production lines with a total capacity of 3 million tons of high-grade packaging paper, equipped with a 90-ton/hour boiler, 18-megawatt steam turbine generator and auxiliary systems. These two projects were fully completed and put into operation in July 2017. The two operating machines include Machine No. 1 with a net paper width of 5,300 millimeters, a designed running speed of 550 meters/minute, and an actual running speed of 500 meters/minute. The pressing section adopts a four-roll three-pressure combined pressing form, mainly producing low-yield high-strength corrugated base paper. Machine No. 2 has a net paper width of 4,000 millimeters and a running speed of 400 meters/minute. 

(6) Hubei Changjiang Heshou Paper Industry Technology Transformation Project 

Hubei Hongfa Renewable Resources Technology Development Co., Ltd. has made a decision to lease the existing factory area of the company's paper machine to Hubei Changjiang Hufeng Paper Industry Co., Ltd. This time, the contractor, Hubei Changjiang Hufeng Paper Industry Co., Ltd., mainly makes partial adjustments to the paper machine equipment. The initial adjustment is to produce 350-550 grams per square meter of tube paper, with an annual production capacity of up to 500,000 tons. Later, after the company's review, it was changed to produce coated white paperboard. Currently, the project is under renovation and is expected to undergo trial production and commissioning around June 2018. 

(7) Hubei Baomai Paper Industry's 200,000-ton Industrial Grade Cigarette Paper Project 

Hubei Baomai Paper Industry Group has constructed a 200,000-ton cigarette paper project in the Jiangling County Riverfront Industrial Park. The total investment is 650 million yuan, covering an area of 33.3 hectares. The project has been completed and put into operation. The company's total production capacity will reach 600,000 tons.