On May 17, 2019 in China Ilim Group and TC International Investment Corporation held a partnership conference with leading packaging manufacturers and logistics companies.

On May 17, 2019, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Ilim Group and TC International Investment Corporation held a partnership conference with leading packaging manufacturers and logistics companies from Eastern China.

The event was attended by more than 160 people (representing 49 box plants, 10 logistics companies, and 11 traders), including both current and potential partners and consumers.

The conference was held as part of Ilim’s large-scale investment program, which will allow Ilim to increase its total annual output of board and other packaging materials by 700 thousand tons by 2023.

Taking into account the growing demand for packaging materials in China’s domestic market (growth of E-commerce, plastic substitution and exhaustion of recycling potential), the demand will keep growing in the short term. This process will be accompanied by tightening quality requirements, which is driven by several factors: more stringent regulations on food packaging safety, ban on fluorescent substances and expected shortage of fiber for testliner manufacturing due to restrictions imposed on imported waste paper.

In this regard, kraftliner produced by Ilim Group has significant competitive advantages. It is used as linerboard; it has superior physical and mechanical properties, high load bearing capacity of stacked corrugated containerboard materials. Kraftliner is made of 100% kraft pulp, it is compliant with ISO requirements and recommended for food packaging. Key industries consuming Ilim’s kraftliner packaging include agriculture (including packaging for deep freeze products) and industry (construction and finishing materials, glass and porcelain tableware, household chemicals and appliances, electronics, tobacco products, pharmaceuticals and fragnances).

Along with the conference in Hangzhou, Ilim Group management met with their key Chinese partners in pulp and paper business, logistics companies and representatives of terminals and warehouses in the ports of Shanghai and Ningbo. The partners intend to consolidate and develop box business, as they see a significant future potential. Transport companies are preparing themselves for the increase in volumes and are actively developing the routes for sea and rail deliveries, with a special focus on the ramp-up of volumes transported via the Silk Road through the border terminals in Zabaikalsk and Naushki. This will give Ilim a wider access to the consumers in the Southwest regions of the People’s Republic of China.

“In 2019, Ilim is implementing a large-scale PM upgrade in Bratsk, which will allow us to increase its capacity by 100 thousand tons and improve product quality. In 2021, Ilim will start up a new pulp and board mill with an annual capacity of 600 thousand tons in Ust-Ilimsk. Therefore, by 2024 Ilim plans to increase its annual export to China, Taiwan and South Korea by another 650 thousand tons with 30% of this volumes going to Eastern China. The new PM will have the highest KLB production capacity in the world,” said Alexander Lykhin, Vice-President, Asia, head of JSC Ilim Group representative office in China.

“Ilim Group products account for 70 % of our sales. We are absolutely confident about Ilim's product quality and reliability of its supply chain. With the increase in Ilim’s product output, we will increase our shipment volumes and improve logistics services for our partners, contributing to the development of the pulp and paper industry in our countries,” summarized Chen Ming, TC International Investment CEO.

Reference information:

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang region, is 180 km from Shanghai, which is a large transport hub not only for the region, but also for the country in general. The goods are delivered to the port of Shanghai, where they are transshipped and sent to all destinations in Eastern China.
Hangzhou has the headquarters of Alibaba Group, a Chinese company, which is the largest global E-commerce holding, the owner of Alibaba.com, B2B web-portal, and Aliexpress.com online store, etc.

TC International Investment Corporation is a pulp and paper products distributor in the Peoples’ Republic of China and Ilim’s partner since 2006.

The conference in Hangzhou is the fifth regional conference co-organized with partners in 2019. This year the meetings with consumers have already been held in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Liaoning and Shandong provinces, with look-and-see visits to Ilim Group Mills in Siberia planned for existing and potential partners.