Kwun Tong, Hong Kong 04 August 2014 -- Lee & Man has started up its new PM for the production of recycled corrugated case material in July. This adds 320,000 tpy of testliner to the market.

Hong Kong-based Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing has commissioned a new PM for recycled corrugated case material at its site in Chongqing, Sichuan province. PM 20 has a capacity of 320,000 tpy and started operating in July to produce testliner in the basis weight range of 70-120 g/m², the company said in its half-yearly report. The indicated output figure is around 100,000 tpy lower than what plant supplier Metso had reported earlier. Furthermore, Lee & Man said that construction of its new site in Hau Giang/Vietnam is progressing on schedule. Production at the site is slated to begin at the end of the year, which will add around 400,000 tpy of recycled corrugated case material to market supply.

Raymond Lee, chairman of the group's board of directors, said that Lee & Man hopes to continue its expansion in suitable regions but in the medium term, the company will focus on reducing debt. The company is burdened by the slowdown in the Chinese economy and exports as well as oversupply in many paper grades which is expected to give rise to significant price pressure in the second half of the year, he explained. "The long-term outlook is promising with demand for packaging paper in China expected to grow as obsolete production facilities will be forced to shut down because they will not be able to compete and because of stringent environmental regulations," Lee & Man says.