The common goal of Volga and PoddarGlobal in the cooperation is to offer customers a broader range of solutions for their publishing needs while maximizing efficiency and minimizing cost in the supply chain. Volga furthermore expects to release approximately $15-20 million in working capital by the cooperation with PoddarGlobal in India.
Volga stopped three newsprint machines with a combined capacity of some 295,000 tonnes/yr at its Balakhna mill near Nizhny Novgorod on April 13 due to a global decline in newsprint prices and a sharp increase in chemical pulp prices. The 270,000 tonne/yr newsprint PM 8 remains on stream.
In order to replace the use of chemical pulp with thermomechanical pulp (TMP), the form plans to build a new 450,000 tonne/yr TMP line at the factory. When the new TMP plant is operational, the three newsprint machines will be restarted. No timeline has been provide for this project, but the firm said it would require an investment of some Euro 60 million ($68 million).
