Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL), Singapore, a producer of fiber, pulp, and paper with its production base in Indonesia, announced on April 22 it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a total value of $50 million with what is now two European companies to strengthen its cooperation with international partners.

In a statement sent to the Jakarta Globe, Jakarta, Indonesia, APRIL said it has signed an MOU with Papier Union, a manufacturer and distributor of paper and printing products with business value worth $35 million.

April also said it had signed another MOU with Roxcel Group (OTW April 26 edition), which trades raw material solutions for the printing and packaging industry, with an estimated value of $15 million.

The MOUs are part of a number of MOUs signed by Indonesian companies, whose executives accompanied President Joko Widodo's trip to Europe from April 18 to 22.

April Group's Managing Director Tony Wenas signed the MOU with Papier Union's Managing Director Thomas Schimanowski at Adlon Kempinsky hotel in Berlin. Meanwhile, for Roxcel Group, the MOU signing was done in Mandarin Oriental hotel of Hyde Park in London, England.

"[Buyers] from the European market have made commitments to increase their demand gradually in the next few years," Wenas said in a statement.

He said to the newspaper that he believes the MOUs will strengthen penetration of April's products into the European market. April's PaperOne product has been exported to 75 countries, with focus markets into Asia, Pacific, Australia, and China.

Aiming for a higher market, April's subsidiary Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) started development of a Rp 4 trillion paper production facility in Riau province in May of this past year. The facility, its third paper mill, or PM 3, will produce high grade digital paper, designed for high-quality digital color printing.

According to data from the industry ministry, Indonesia's installed capacity of its pulp and paper industry is able to produce up to 7.93 million metric tpy of pulp and 12.98 million metric tpy of paper. The actual production by the industry is about 6.4 million metric tpy of pulp and 10.4 million metric tpy of paper.

With these figures, Indonesia sits as the ninth ranked for its pulp industry and the sixth for its paper industry in the world. In Asia, it is the third largest for both pulp and paper.