Chinese papermaking giant aim to set example of sustainability for domestic industry

HELSINKI - Heng'an International Group, a leading producer of sanitary napkins and baby diapers in China, has recently unveiled its ambitious investment plan for a large scale bio product factory in Finland.

In an interview with Xinhua, the group's CEO Xu Lianjie said he wants, through the new project, to set an example of sustainability for Chinese pulp and paper industry.

Xu said his company, which has a turnover of 2.57 billion euros and a profit of 49.4 million euros in 2017, attaches great importance to the concept of sustainable development that prevails in Finland.

Finland is a major exporter of softwood pulp in the world, and also serves the main source of pulp imports for Heng'an. Softwood pulp is an important raw material for the production of household paper products.

According to the agreement signed in Helsinki earlier this week, Heng'an purchased 36.46 percent of Finpulp's shares at 11.66 million euros, and became its largest shareholder. Finpulp plans to build a large-scale bio plant near Kuopio in central Finland, with a total estimated investment of 1.4 billion euros. It is expected to have a capacity of 1.2 million tons of softwood pulp annually when put into operation in 2021. It will also produce biological products such as pine oil and tall oil.

Xu noticed that Finnish paper and pulp industry has accelerated technological upgrade in recent years. Metsa Fibre, one of the world's largest coniferous pulp suppliers, has invested 1.2 billion euros in renovating its factory in Aanekoski, central Finland, for example.

The newly built bio-product plant started production last year, with a capacity of 1.3 million tons of pulp. It adopts the most advanced technologies and strict environmental protection measures, and significantly broadens the product portfolio and increases added-value. Local media reports have said the plant alone can increase the use of renewable energy in Finland by two percent.

Xu said he was impressed by Metsa Fibre's new plant, reportedly the largest ever project in Finnish history, as it produces not only pulp but also various by-products, and thus optimizes the utilization of resources.

"Previously we threw away the waste from the production process, but they have made it into small fuel balls. The energy of each fuel ball is equivalent to a coal ball," he commented.

Xu also praised the legal system in Finland that guarantees the adequate forest resources. "If you cut one tree, you have to plant two. The forest is expanding even though there are so many pulp and paper mills in Finland. This is sustainable development." He added that the measures to protect and rationally utilize the forest could be learned by Chinese operators, hoping that a similar sustainable industrial chain will gradually be built in China.

Heng'an's investment is a latest piece of good news from China for Finnish forest industry. Earlier this year, China's Shanying Group in cooperation with CAMC Engineering announced to build a bioenergy plant in northern Finland.

Local authorities and forest owners believe the new investments will make better use of the abundant forest resources in Finland, while experts and analysts have more discussions about the scenarios of the prospects.

According to Xu, a considerable portion of the pulp products of the new plant will be bought by China after it is put into operation, if the current positive trend of Chinese pulp market goes on. He admitted it will help his company to improve the integration of upstream-downstream businesses.

Regarding the management of the project and environmental protection during the future production, Xu assured that "we will continue to focus on environmental protection, and even be stricter." He mentioned that Heng'an, with its emphasis on green growth, won the International Carbon-value Award awarded by World Economic and Environmental Conference in 2016.

He said the the Belt and Road Initiative offers opportunities for wider international cooperation in the paper and pulp industry. Heng'an has adjusted its development strategy in recent years and successively expanded its business in Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia and Finland.

"I have met many people in these regions who are looking forward to working with Chinese companies. They want to combine their ambitions with ours' and achieve mutual benefits," he noted. (1 euro = $1.21)