Kimberly-Clark New Hand Towel Converting Line up to Speed at Plant in France

Kimberly-Clark, Dallas, Texas, USA, has invested some EUR 15 million in a hand towel tissue converting line at its Villey-Saint-Etienne facility in France, according to a report by RISI, Boston, Mass. The new line started up this past summer and now reportedly is running at full production capacity.

In the RISI report, Frédéric Petit, managing director of the plant, said there were two reasons for the investment—the need for a production capacity increase to face growing demand for rolled hand towels combined with product innovation and the launch of the firm’s new product Scott Max.

"The business and mill’s dynamism allowed us to create 28 permanent jobs at the site in the last 12 months," Petit said.

The Villey-Saint-Etienne plant also houses an 80,000 metric tpy tissue machine and employs about 250 people.

This year, the company plans to convert more than 70,000 metric tons of paper, up from 64,000 metric tons last year.