Minerals Technologies Inc. announced today it has signed an agreement with Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co. Ltd. for the construction of a 100,000-metric ton satellite precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) plant at Sun Paper's paper mill in Yanzhou City, Shandong Province, China.
The satellite facility, which will become operational in the first quarter of 2014, will produce OPACARB® A40, a coating-grade PCC, for Sun Paper's lightweight coated, coated fine paper and coated paperboard grades.
"We are very pleased to be working with a premier company like Sun Paper, which is the largest privately owned paper business in China," said Joseph C. Muscari, chairman and chief executive officer of Minerals Technologies, who was in China for the signing ceremony yesterday. Mr. Muscari and Mr. Li Hongxin, chairman of Sun Paper, signed a long-term relationship pact focused on broader technical and process cooperation in addition to the new satellite supply contract.
Mr. Muscari added: "This agreement is also a major advancement of our strategy to expand our PCC business in China, where paper production continues to grow between five and seven percent a year."
Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co. Ltd, established in 1982, is China's largest privately owned papermaker and producer of premium coated packaging board. Its paper and board products are sold throughout China and exported to more than 20 countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the United States. The company currently runs a total of 19 paper and board machines, with a capacity of more than 1.2 million metric tons. Sun Paper produces up to 150 grades in three primary categories: premium coated packaging paperboard, industrial-based board and office paper. Sun Paper has the consolidated asset of RMB3.6 billion and annual capacity of one million metric tons.
PCC is a specialty pigment for filling and coating high-quality paper. By substituting Minerals Technologies' PCC for more expensive wood fiber, customers are able to produce brighter, higher quality paper at lower cost. In 1986, Minerals Technologies originated the satellite concept for making and delivering PCC on-site at paper mills and the concept was a major factor in revolutionizing papermaking in North America. Today, the company has 56 satellite plants in operation or under construction around the world and continues to lead the industry with consistent quality and technical innovation.
Minerals Technologies Inc. is a resource- and technology-based growth company that develops, produces and markets worldwide a broad range of specialty mineral, mineral-based and synthetic mineral products and related systems and services. The company recorded sales of $1.04 billion in 2011.