Century Pulp and Paper has commissioned its second tissue paper machine supplied by Valmet with high-performance and world-leading technologies.
March 19, 2021
Century Pulp and Paper has successfully commissioned the new Valmet Tissue Advantage DCT 100HS tissue machine on March 16, 2021. The new production line will add over 36,000 tonnes per annum of high-quality facial tissue, toilet tissue, kitchen towel and napkin grades to the company’s current annual production capacity. TM 7 has a deckle width of 285 cm and a design speed of 2,000 m/min.
Speaking on the development, Mr. J.P. Narain, Chief Executive Officer, Century Pulp and Paper says, “we are the first company in India to install a tissue line equipped with Valmet Advantage ViscoNip press. The combination of the state-of-the-art pressing technology and Valmet Advantage ReDry will provide significant energy savings, uniform moisture profile and nip-load flexibility up to 150kN/m. The machine has got a soft-nip calendar that helps in improving the paper properties.”
The machine is equipped with an OptiFlo headbox and a 16-foot Yankee cylinder. It also features the Advantage tissue technologies AirCap and Hot Air system, as well as a SoftReel, along with the new ReDry technology, i.e. a novel way to recover energy from hood exhaust air to heat the web before drying. In combination with the ViscoNip press, it has proven to provide significant energy savings and quality improvements.
The machine will use a mix of 25 percent imported pulp and the remaining 75 percent will be obtained from captive pulp production.
Market-Shift in terms of Demand
There has been a conspicuous demand-shift in the post-COVID world with regard to the market share of the ‘Away-From-Home’ consumption and ‘At-Home’ consumption of tissues. Touching upon the same, he says, “it’s very important to note that prior to COVID, the ‘At-Home’ consumption was around 35%, and the ‘Away-From-Home’ was about 65%. But with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘Away-From-Home’ category was completely shut, and the ‘At-Home’ consumption increased phenomenally. The reason for the surge of the latter category can be owed to the growing awareness about the importance of hygiene.”
He further adds “as a result, now, the ratio of market-demand for the two said segments should be somewhere around either 45% and 55% or 50-50%. Overall, this is a promising sign for the Indian tissue paper market. Going ahead, the demand that we are seeing right now will be further accelerated as the hospitality and travel sectors are yet to revive fully.”
Hygiene Awareness and Tissue Converting
Highlighting the efforts of Century Pulp and Paper in digital marketing, he asserts “we’ve been diligently working to enhance our reach through social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We have been promoting content to educate the audience about the tissue paper-usage in general, relating it to the concept of wellness and hygiene. At present, we are driving through all the sources and later in future, when we have established a PAN-India distribution, especially for our retail products, we might take the route of electronic media as well.”
With the range of tissue paper products, the Company is planning to expand their reach; he elaborates “we have only recently ventured into this market. At present, we are only catering to the north Indian market as our manufacturing facility is located in Sonepat, Haryana. Further, we are planning to initiate the second one in the western part of the country, and then we will gradually expand our footprint across the country. Also, I would like to underscore that we diversified into converting operations with the primary aim to create awareness about hygiene.”
Hygiene – An Indispensable Part of Our Lives
Many research studies have shown that the consumption of tissue papers is effective, convenient and economical. Bathroom tissue, paper towels, facial tissue, paper handkerchiefs and table napkins all play a critical role in our basic daily hygiene, cleanliness and comfort.
Touching upon the surge in growth of the tissue and hygiene paper market in India, he says, “the tissue paper segment is growing relatively fast in the overall paper sector. In fact, the growth in the category has been around 10-12% which is seemingly a good growth rate and the future seems to be very promising. Also, the potential of the segment is certainly very high, keeping in view the level of awareness related to hygiene that has been created with the outbreak of the pandemic. This has correlated the usage of tissue paper products with the concepts of health and wellness.”
There has been a discernible shift in the consumer-behavior and outlook towards understanding the role of hygiene and the importance of tissue papers in the pre-COVID times and the post-COVID society. Explaining the distinction, he says “there has been a remarkable and noticeable shift in the consumption of tissue papers in our daily lives. Also, as the new generation which is growing now, have witnessed and inculcated the tissue paper-usage as part of their lifestyle.”
Also Read: Century Pulp and Paper Inaugurates 2.6MW Solar Plant Erected by Sharma Fabricators.
As a leading player in tissue paper industry and considering role of tissue paper in hygiene, Mr. Narain feels that “Tissue paper is required to be spread across consumer base and consumers should be provided with more affordable tissue paper with highest hygiene quality.” Century Pulp & Paper has taken major drive in this aspect by introducing Economical Grade of 100% virgin tissue made from ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) pulp which are OBA (Optical Brightening Agent) free.
Future Plans
Talking about the way forward, Mr. Narain asserts that “presently, we are looking for further opportunities to educate the society as well as to diversify into different avenues. With this approach, in August 2020, we introduced the ‘Barber Hygiene Kit’ containing a barber cutting cape, beard shaving cape, and the napkins to make it suitable for use instead of conventional non-woven cloths, terry towel or plastic sheets to maintain hygiene. Our plan is to introduce hygiene bed rolls to the Indian Railways, which is already being used at the hospitals. If this plan gets materialized, our overall goal will be to promote the idea of a ‘circular economy’. Our proposition is that we will supply the hygiene bed rolls to the railways and then, we will collect the used bed rolls at a pre-decided premium price. This move will be profitable and cost–effective to the railways and the used bed rolls will be a source of pulp for us, which will be equitably advantageous for both. To sum up, this is the kind of thought-process and plans we have for the future for the tissue division.”
