Valmet to install 2,400 daily tonnes of BCTMP capacity at Guangxi Jingui Chinese complex

When we talk about capacity expansions in the mechanical pulping sector, we usually see incremental upgrades or modest new lines. What Valmet has just secured in China is a different beast entirely. Guangxi Jingui Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd., part of the APP Group, has commissioned two complete bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulping (BCTMP) lines for its Qinzhou mill. At 1,200 air-dried tonnes per day each, we are looking at a combined injection of 2,400 tonnes of daily capacity into the market. This is a Tier 1 industrial order that signals aggressive growth in the high-yield pulp segment.

The core of this massive deployment relies on Valmet’s High-Temperature Chemi-Thermomechanical Pulping (HT-CTMP) technology, integrated with the Valmet DNA automation system. For decades, the primary bottleneck of mechanical pulping has been its staggering energy footprint. The HT-CTMP process tackles this by operating at significantly higher temperatures—up to 180°C compared to the sub-100°C norm of traditional systems. This rapid, pressurized expansion and heating softens the lignin more effectively before refining, drastically reducing the specific energy consumption while yielding pulp with exceptionally high bulk and low shive content.

Guangxi Jingui is not taking a blind leap with this technology. The Qinzhou mill has been operating a Valmet BCTMP line since 2013, originally designed for 750 tonnes per day, which quickly became a benchmark for low chemical and energy consumption in the region. Yichang Zhong, Pulp Production Line Director at Guangxi Jingui, confirmed that this new investment is a direct result of their previous operational success and an ongoing upgrade of their existing infrastructure. When a producer scales up from a 750-tonne line to adding 2,400 tonnes of new daily capacity, it is a clear validation of the technology's return on investment.

Scheduled for start-up in the second half of 2027, these lines will feed the growing appetite for high-quality packaging board. The ability of the HT-CTMP platform to process diverse raw materials—including imported wood chips that may have suffered degradation during transport—gives Guangxi Jingui a critical buffer against supply chain volatility. In a market where fiber yield and energy costs dictate margins, deploying 2,400 tonnes of highly optimized daily capacity is a structural advantage.

This massive 2,400 t/d expansion proves that the future of mechanical pulping lies in high-temperature processing that refuses to compromise between energy efficiency and fiber bulk. Will other major Asian producers accelerate their own BCTMP investments to match this new scale of production efficiency? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai