Century Pulp and Paper: Equipping itself to venture in to Kraft paper production; Technology up-gradation on PM-III & IV

Century Pulp and Paper: Equipping itself to venture in to Kraft paper production; Technology up-gradation on PM-III & IV with an investment of INR 65 Cr.

Lalkuan | 29th July 2020 | The Pulp and Paper Times:

The global economy has witnessed a serious health epidemic challenge, and the whole world is trying to find its solution. Such a war-like situation is adversely affecting almost all the industries of any country. Paper industry being one of the oldest manufacturing sectors in the world, is expected to get badly impacted due to dis-equilibrium between consumption & supply.

The big paper mills of writing and Printing segment in India, are tweaking with new product development i.e. Kraft paper. After anticipating the short term challenges in writing & printing manufacturing arising due to COVID 19, Century Pulp and Paper (CPP) is gearing up its infrastructure to make its presence in Kraft Paper Segment also.

“Growth in the manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and FMCG sectors, with rising demand for better and sustainable packaging materials, further provide impetus to the paper industry,

“At Century Pulp and Paper, we are witnessing robust demand for our tissue paper and packaging board products due to the renewed focus on hygiene and pharma products. Therefore, our plants are operating at almost 100% capacity. Our value-added product development rate also increased significantly this year. Going forward, our focus will be to further diversify into new value-added products,” Said Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla in a message to shareholders.

“COVID-19 has impacted the entire Indian pulp and paper sector since it is highly dependent on exports and imports. Disruptions in the supply chain and subdued market conditions have adversely impacted the overall demand for all variants of paper. In future, packaging board demand will remain resilient due to higher consumption of packaging material by e-commerce, FMCG, food and pharma industries. Tissue paper demand will grow due to government awareness programmes towards hygiene and sanitation,” Said Mr. J.P. Narain, CEO of Century Pulp and Paper in its annual report for FY 19-20.

Century Pulp and Paper is going to launch various products ranging from Kraft paper of high burst factor, tissue-based bed roll for use in hospitals and hotels as a hygienic substitute and tissue-based barber kit as hygienic substitute.

“Technical up-gradation, removing of bottlenecks and balancing the Bagasse based (PM3 Machine), and recycle paper-based paper plant (PM4 Machine), with an investment of INR 65 Crores which will increase monthly paper manufacturing capacity from 7200 Mt to 8500 Mt for each plant. This expansion will help in reducing overall manufacturing cost (of these two machines), quality improvement and increase in production,” Reports says.

“Installation of an additional Tissue plant with an investment of INR 100 Crores to manufacture Prime Grade Tissue paper with a capacity of 100 tonnes per day is in progress and is expected to start production by October 2020,” mentioned in the report.

Mr. Narain further stated in the report that Due to the pandemic, the demand for hygiene products in India has shown an exemplary growth rate. Nowadays, people are very particular about ensuring that the products they buy are packed well. They also carry tissue papers with them wherever they go for the fear of the virus. The environment has augured well for us and our excellent quality tissues and board products have seen a boost in demand.

During the financial year under review, Paper industry, globally, faced tough situations which caused realisations to fall drastically. However, by improving operational efficiencies, CPP maintained its previous year EBITDA margin of 22%.

“The pandemic-induced new normal has created greater traction for the Century Pulp and Paper business. The products in the tissue segment were in high demand due to the higher consciousness for hygiene factor and the boards due to higher pharma demand. While a steady performance and augmenting value for our stakeholders are our priorities, safety, sustainability and customer-centricity remain our key focus areas. We make extensive use of cutting-edge technology across the entire value-chain and empower our employees towards fulfilling our corporate vision,” Mr. J. C. Laddha, Managing Director at Century Textiles and Industries Limited stated in the report.

The report stated that the recent widespread health challenge, COVID-19, will impact the global market behaviour during H1/ FY-21. If it persists, then it will also affect the market behaviour during an initial period of H2/FY21.

CPP’s steps on CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY

• On Time in Full (OTIF) >90% through the speed of action

• Team focus on offering solutions that resolve customer problems

• Based on the market requirement, onsite PCC plant is in the installation stage for improving paper opacity from 1.5% to 2% Customer connect

• Structured approach in addressing customer concerns through regular interactions with them. Two product launch events-cum-customer meets were organised, where customers were provided information on product know-how and emerging industry trends Closer to customers.

• Three Quick Service Centres strategically located near the market to supply finished products within 72 hours from the time of demand and to reduce cost in freight.

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