Nuqul Affiliate FHH Goes Commercial on New Tissue Machine in UAE

Fine Hygienic Holding (FHH), an affiliate of Jordan’s Nuqul Group, has launched commercial production on a new tissue machine at its Al Nakheel plant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The 60,000-tonne/yr unit, PM 5, was supplied by Valmet and installed by Demont. Around half of its output will be converted at Al Nakheel, with the rest going to other FHH sites in UAE and Saudi Arabia for processing. The tissue will be converted into all grades, predominantly facial tissue, followed by towels and toilet paper.

Previously, FHH was planning to relocate PM 4 from its Al Snobar mill in Jordan to Abu Dhabi, due to high energy costs. However, it has decided to keep the 54,000-tonne/yr tissue machine running at Al Snobar.

A Nuqul Group source said energy costs in UAE have risen by some 140% over the past two years due to the removal of subsidies, while the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Aqaba, completed in 2015, will reduce Jordan’s energy disadvantage.

In addition, he cited tissue overcapacity in UAE which is expected to climb from double to around triple the market’s needs once Crown Paper Mills and Star Paper Mill both start up new machines next year. These will bring another 103,000 tonnes/yr of tissue paper capacity in Abu Dhabi.