According to a report today by Euwid-P&P(Germany), Pro-Gest (Italy) has registered double-digit sales growth in 2017 on strong corrugated market in Europe and investment decisions.

The new recycled containerboard machine at Cartiere Villa Lagarina's mill in Mantua is scheduled to start production in July. According to the corporate parent Pro-Gest, individual production areas are currently being tested and trial runs with pulp on wire are to be carried out from mid-June.

The mill in Mantua houses a Valmet containerboard machine with a reel width of 7.6 m. According to the Finnish machine engineering company, the production line is designed for a maximum production capacity of 550,000 tpy. Pro-Gest plans to run the paper machine at speeds of 1.500 m/min and produce 405,000 tpy or 1,159 tpd of recovered fibre based liners and flutings with basis weights ranging from 70-160 g/m².

The actual environmental permit for the Mantua site limits the output of the new production line to 200,000 tpy or 575 tpd. However, the Italian paper and packaging group had submitted the application for the environmental reassessment of the Mantua site in October last year and is confident that it will receive a positive decision before the beginning of the third quarter this year, allowing it to increase production to the originally planned 405,000 tpy.

The commissioning of the new recycled containerboard machine in Mantua was postponed several times in the past and was last scheduled for the end of the first quarter 2018.

In 2017, Pro-Gest has registered 12% growth in sales to €502m and increased the EBITDA-margin to 22.8% compared to 21.2% achieved in 2016. The group's net profit jumped by 69% year-on-year to €53.7m. This reportedly confirmed the upward trend in the recycled corrugated packaging segment on the European market and the success of company's commercial decisions.

"The positive consolidated results for 2017 confirm the trend of previous years. The double-digit revenue growth recorded is the result of significant investments made that allowed the Pro-Gest Group to confirm its position as one of the main players on the market," the group's CEO Bruno Zago commented.