Valmet will deliver key technology for a new greenfield dissolving pulp mill to Sun Paper's new investment in Laos. The mill site, Muang Phin, is located in the southern province of Savanakhet. The target is to start pulp production during the second quarter of 2018. The value of the order is around EUR 20 million.

"This is our first international investment where we are expanding beyond China. Laos has shown to be a good location for this mill from where we will supply high profit dissolving to China. China is an important market for dissolving pulp and we expect to gain higher profits from dissolving pulp compared twith kraft pulp in China," said Liu Yanbo, mill manager at Sun Paper."

"We are very pleased to start this dissolving pulp mill project together with Sun Paper. Valmet has extensive experience and a wide scope of technologies in supplying equipment and processes for the production of dissolving pulp for various end products. Together with our customer, we will create a mill producing pure, high-quality pulp," said Pasi Mäkelä, VP, Valmet Pulp Mill Sales.

Valmet delivery to Sun Paper's new 250 metric kiloton/year dissolving pulp mill in Laos includes key technology for various process areas. Valmet's scope of supply includes batch cooking with an engineering package, brown stock and bleaching presses for the fiber line, wood powder firing, belt dryer, and lime kiln. Valmet also establishes site services for all goods delivered.

The batch cooking is an ideal fit for this kind of dissolving pulp production. In batch cooking the process can utilize raw materials with varying quality. The wood powder firing solution provides fuel for the lime kiln solution and reduces the need for fossil fuels. This wood power firing implementation is first of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, Valmet explained. 

Sun Paper is one of the largest private enterprises in China, the biggest high class coated wrapping board production base, and the leading enterprise of food wrapping paperboard. The business of Sun Paper covers many fields such as papermaking, chemical industry, foreign trade, power, scientific research, forestry and paper industry, hotel, investment, textiles, and food. The company has more than 10,000 employees, and the annual pulp and paper production capacity of Sun Paper is around 5.7 million tons.