Parenco announces multimillion investment

Photo: Parenco

Dutch graphic paper manufacturer Parenco invests approximately one hundred million euros with its owner H2 Equity Partners in the conversion of its paper machine 2 (PM2). This machine was idled  in 2009 by its then owner due to the declining demand of newsprint paper. After the conversion, PM2 will produce about 385,000 tons of packaging paper from mid 2016, intended for the production of corrugated board. With this investment, Parenco creates approximately sixty new jobs.

The conversion of PM2 is a next step in the investment program at Parenco that started two years ago when investment firm H2 Equity Partners acquired all shares. At the time of the acquisition, Parenco was on the verge of closing its doors for good. In the past two years, paper machine 1 (PM1) has successfully resumed producing graphic paper for leaflets, flyers, and magazines.

Geert Wassens, Managing Director at Parenco, explains: “Globally, the demand for graphicpaper is declining in principle and there is sufficient capacity. Restarting PM2 with this type of product was therefore not an option. The market for packaging paper has been growing for years however and it is expected to continue doing so. Extensive research showed that investing in a conversion to the production of packaging pa per was the right step to guarantee long term growth and continuity for our company.