Ahlstrom-Munksjö has completed the acquisition of a 60% stake in Chinese decor paper producer Minglian New Materials Technology and forms a joint venture which comprises a state-of-the-art plant in the city of Xingtai, Hebei Province, China. A non-binding letter of intent with the majority shareholders was initially signed in November 2019 but the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the negotiations and closing of the transaction.
By combining Minglian with its existing Decor business, Ahlstrom-Munksjö creates a global leader in decor papers with improved cost competitiveness and strong presence in Europe, Americas and Asia.
Minglian New Materials was established in 2016 by a group of entrepreneurs with a background in the Chinese decor industry. The state-of-the-art greenfield investment in Xingtai, Hebei province, including an eight-foot paper machine equipped with best available technology, was completed in November 2018. The annual production capacity of approximately 50,000 tons is currently fully utilized. The plant site in Xingtai allows future capacity expansion. The current number of employees is 140.
The Decor Solutions business area is one of Ahlstrom-Munksjö‘s five reporting segments. The Decor business produces paper in a wide range of colors, grades and grammages for decorative applications, mainly used in the production of laminated surface materials for furniture, flooring and other interior and exterior architectural panels. The production takes place at five plants: Unterkochen and Dettingen in Germany, Tolosa in Spain, Caieiras in Brazil and Arches in France. Annual production capacity is approximately 210,000 tons.
