China's Shandong Tralin installs second-hand PM from USA

SINGAPORE, Jul. 14, 2008 - China's Shandong Tralin Paper has bought a second-hand machine from the US firm Blue Heron Paper.

A source at the Chinese company said that the equipment has been dismantled and shipped to its mill in Gaotang, Shandong province. Installation work has kicked off, with startup targeted for February next year.

The source indicated that the firm aims to rebuild the 6.1 m wide PM, which originally produced newsprint in the USA, enabling it to churn out uncoated printing/writing paper using a mixture of virgin fiber and nonwood pulp as furnish. It will have a capacity of 150,000 tonnes/yr.

Shandong Tralin has placed an order with Metso to supply automation for the PM. Delivery is scheduled for November.

Blue Heron permanently closed its mill in Pomona, California, in May 2007, and sold off the plant's sole machine in December. It acquired the newsprint mill from the Smurfit Group in mid-2005.