Norpapers PM 6 restarts with slight increase in capacity

26 October 2018

Production of Kraft Top White to start soon

French manufacturer of recycled white and brown corrugated case material Norpaper reopened the rebuilt PM 6 at its Blendecques mill in mid-October which now has a slightly higher production capacity and an expanded range of paper grades. A company spokesperson explained that PM 6 can now produce around 15,000 tpy more after the installation of a new headbox, increasing the total capacity of the mill with its three paper machines to around 190,000 tpy. PM 6 mainly produces white grades, and their quality has improved as a result of the rebuild, the spokesperson said. Norpaper is seeking to increase the proportion of higher grades. In addition to the white varieties of quality grades C, B and B+, which have mainly been produced to date, the company intends to move more in the direction of A and soon also start producing Kraft Top White. At the Blendecques plant, preparations for this have already been completed, and at the Nantes plant, the intention is to start at the beginning of next year.

Norpaper is also working to slightly increase capacity at its Nantes mill. Currently, after minor interventions, the company has over 60,000 tpy at its disposal, with a short-term target of 70,000 tpy. The share of white grades in the company as a whole is currently 80% and is expected to increase slightly with the changes that will soon be implemented.

Norpaper had been taken over by Gemayel Frères & Chaoui Group Industriel in the middle of this year after seven years of sole ownership by Open Gate Capital and had announced that it wanted to optimise the two plants with smaller investments.

 

Source: euwid-paper.com