Kondopoga PPM, one of Russia’s largest pulp and paper producers is diversifying its activities by the beginning of production of some new products this year, according to recent statements, made by representatives of the enterprise.
That became mainly due to a significant decline of demand for newsprint both in Russia and global basis, which has been observed in recent years.
Viktor Tolstov, general director of Kondopoga PPM comments:
“In 2008 global newsprint production and consumption estimated at 32 million tonnes. By 2019, 17 million tons were sold, while in 2020 these figures amounted to 12.5 million tons».
In this regard, the company plans to further shift on the production of other types of paper.
One of them is colored paper, which is used for the covers of notebooks. In addition, as part of the company’s plans is increasing the production of paper with increased strength.
Finally, in recent years the company has begun the production of lightweight packaging paper. This paper is thinner and lighter than regular paper, which means less material is wasted. By the end of 2020, the production of new types of paper accounted for 40% of all products, produced on the basis of the enterprise.
The company, which was founded in 1929 achieved good results last year. In 2020 it produced more than 650,000 tons of paper and 146,000 thousand tons of lignosulfonates (a product of technological processing of wood).
According to Viktor Tolstov, head of Kondopoga PPM, about 86.7% of the overall output of the enterprise is supplied for exports, while the listof major sale markets includes China, India, Turkey, Pakistan, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Egypt, Germany and France.
By: Eugen Gerden