APRIL increases investment by 30 billion yuan in phase three development of China pulp and paper operations
Singapore APRIL SSYMB, the China arm of APRIL Group, a subsidiary of Singapore's Royal Golden Eagle Group (RGE Pte Ltd), today announced that it will make an additional investment of 30 billion yuan to undertake the third phase of development of its pulp and paper operations in Rizhao, Shandong province. The latest investment by APRIL is the largest ever investment by a Singapore company in Shandong province and brings its total investment in Shandong province to approximately 45 billion yuan.
The phase three investment by APRIL will be used to increase pulp production of its Rizhao mill by about 1 million tons and its production of paper and paperboard by 2.4 million tons. The expansion includes development of a second production line for high quality paper board and additional high quality paper production capacity.
The investment agreement between APRIL and Shandong province was signed today at the Singapore-Shandong Business Council (SSBC) meeting between Executive Vice Mayor, Rizhao Municipal People's Government, Mr Hou Chengjun, and Mr Huang Jinping, President of RGE China. The signing was witnessed by Minister of State for Ministry of Trade & Industry and Manpower/SSBC Co-Chairman, Mr Lee Yi Shyan; Chairman, RGE Group, Mr Sukanto Tanoto; and by Vice Governor of Shandong, Mr Cai Limin.
"We are proud of the close partnership we have formed with the people of Shandong in making our Rizhao mill one of the largest and most technologically advanced operations of its kind in the world. Our operations in China include significant investment in environmental technology to ensure that we are energy efficient and environmentally responsible," said Mr Huang.
Shandong province has the third highest GDP of any province in China and the province's GDP grew at 12.5% in 2010.
