Hengan Poised to Start 60,000-Tonne/yr TM in Chongqing

Hengan International is gearing up to start trial runs on a new 60,000-tonne/yr tissue machine in the first half of March at its mill in Chongqing municipality, in southwestern China.

Supplied by Andritz and dubbed PM 23, the unit has a trim width of 5.6 m and a design speed of 2,000 m/min, and is equipped with an 18-ft steel Yankee dryer.

An identical machine, dubbed PM 24, is expected to come onstream at the same site within the following two months, according to a source close to the project.

The Chongqing plant currently houses two TMs with a combined capacity of 120,000 tonnes/yr.

The Hong Kong-listed hygiene products giant operates four other facilities across China and boasts a total tissue capacity of around 1.16 million tonnes/yr, ranking itself as the second largest tissue producer in the country. Hengan has further expansion plans elsewhere in China.

Two 60,000 tonne/yr Valmet TMs, the last of the eight units ordered by the company in 2012, are destined for installation at its Weifang mill in Shandong province.

The company has also signed up Toscotec to provide two TMs for a greenfield plant in Changji, in Xinjiang autonomous region.

With a trim width of 2.8 m and an operating speed of 1,600 m, each unit will be able to churn out some 20,000-25,000 tonnes/yr.

They are scheduled to kick into production before year’s end, according to the Italian supplier.