Valmet to supply paper machine wet end rebuild for Khanna Paper Mills in India

Valmet Corporation's press release on February 23, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. EET

Valmet will supply a paper machine wet end rebuild to Khanna Paper Mills Private Limited located in Amritsar, India. The main targets of the rebuild are to improve end product quality, increase production and add paper grades by extending the basis weight range. The start-up of the rebuilt paper machine PM 5 is scheduled for the first quarter of 2017.

The order is included in Valmet's first quarter 2016 orders received. The value of the order is not disclosed. A project of this type and scope is typically valued at approximately EUR 5-7 million.

Valmet's delivery includes rebuild of forming section into Valmet OptiFormer Hybrid as well as headbox measurement, inspection and service and press section runnability improvements.

"Khanna Paper Mills decided to invest in new, high technology regarding the upcoming rebuild of PM5. We selected Valmet as a supplier of the rebuild due to their ability to provide solutions that are flexible also for future needs. After the rebuild we will have flexibility to make also packaging grades according to future market demands," says Varun Jain, CEO of Khanna Paper.

"Valmet offers key technologies for challenging rebuilds. Forming technologies are good demonstrations of our core know-how. Modern forming technologies help our customers to achieve better formation, higher end product quality and significantly decrease energy consumption," says Petri Paukkunen, Vice President, Paper Mills Sales and Marketing, Valmet.

Technical details

Valmet OptiFormer Hybrid with shoe and blade technology uses a unique dewatering technology to boost the output quality and capacity of both new and rebuilt paper machine over a broad range of machine speeds and basis weights. It enables easy operation within a wide operating window, superior and controllable dewatering and improved paper quality, especially formation. It also delivers a potential for fiber cost savings.

The 7060-mm-wide (wire) PM 5 produces newsprint and uncoated woodfree (WFU) grades with the basis weight range of 45 - 80 g/m2. The design speed for the rebuilt machine parts is 1250 m/min.

Signing ceremony in Finland on February 8th 2016. In front from left: Mikko Osara, Vice President, Paper Mills, Valmet and Varun Jain, CEO, Khanna Paper Mills. Behind from left: Kari Lamminmäki, Product Manager, Forming sections, Valmet, Nandkumar DM, General Manager, Sales & Technical Support, Valmet and Arun Sharma, Senior General Manager, Khanna Paper Mills.

Information about the customer Khanna Paper Mills Private Limited

Khanna Paper Mills Private Limited (KPML) manufactures quality paper, newsprint and board for domestic consumption. It has been operating for a little over four decades. KPML produces annually around 380,000 tons of board, newsprint and writing & printing paper. KPML is among the top five paper companies in India and is also the first paper mill in India to produce high quality writing and printing paper from 100% deinked woodfree recovered paper.

VALMET
Corporate Communications

Further information, please contact:

Petri Paukkunen, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Paper Mills, Valmet, tel. +358 40 744 8182

Nandkumar DM, General Manager, Sales & Technical Support, Valmet, tel. +91 9654124517

See Varun Jain's, Khanna Paper CEO, interview about the rebuild investment.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.