This past week, Kemira, Helsinki, Finland, officially opened operations at its new pulp and paper chemical manufacturing plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China. The facility will provide functional and process chemicals for water-intensive segments in the paper industry, as well as cater to oil, mining, and municipal water treatment segments. The chemical plant is expected to produce 100,000 metric tpy of polyacrylic ester, polyacrylamide emulsion, defoamers, and deinking agents.

 

 

 

The company said total investment for the project has been about $100 million. The first phase of operations at the facility will support the region with 100 new direct jobs. Work on the plant began in September 2011.

 

"The completion of our new plant in Nanjing will undoubtedly raise the quality standards of our local products and service. We also hope it will develop into a leading benchmarking enterprise in China's chemical industry, contributing to the production and operating standards in the industry," said Kemira Asia-Pacific President Joe Chan.

Equipped with advanced production processes, the facility will work along with the company’s global R&D teams and its Asia-Pacific R&D center in Shanghai, as well as local laboratories. The plant currently has five production lines designed to produce chemicals for pulp and paper manufacturing. The chemical plant's production capacity for the ASA sizing agent, which is predominantly used for improving water-resistance in middle to high-end paper, will be the largest in Asia, according to the company.