Ilim Group to Increase Exports to China by 60%
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Ilim Group (Russia) reports this month (Oct. 2018) that their analysts forecast that global demand for virgin fiber will grow by more than 30 million tons by 2030, and the demand for virgin corrugated materials will grow by more than 10 million tons. Over the last several years, they've seen a strong focus on the environment and reduction of the environmental footprint.
In 2017, China enforced a ban on the imports of a wide range of unsorted solid waste, which has triggered an increase in the manufacturing of environmentally friendly boards. Meanwhile the demand for packaging products is expected to grow in the next several years driven by improvement in the well-being of the population, domestic market development and expansion of trade, including e-commerce.
The business plan of Ilim Group presented to the Chinese partners at a recent conference takes all those factors into account. Big Ust-Ilimsk is a large-scale project intended to strengthen Ilim’s positions in China through construction of a new KLB line in Siberia. The project will be completed by 2022 to allow Ilim to increase its volumes of kraftliner and other packaging materials by 600,000 metric tpy. At the same time, the Bratsk Mill of Ilim Group is implementing the second stage of the upgrade project, including an upgrade of the KLB line. By the end of 2019, the capacity of the KLB line in Bratsk will grow by more than 100,000 metric tpy.
Upon completion of the project in Ust-Ilimsk and upgrade of the Bratsk Mill, Ilim Group will become one of the largest manufacturers of unbleached packaging materials globally with a total board output of 1.5 million metric tpy, bringing its aggregate production output to over 4.3 million tpy. This will achieve what the release by Ilim Group describes as a leadership advantage as an importer of both bleached pulp and packaging materials to the Chinese market.
