SINGAPORE, Oct. 19, 2001 (paperloop.com) - Nanping Paper has delayed the rebuild of its two Shanghai Electric Group Paper Machinery (SPMC) newsprint PMs at the mill in Fujian province in the south of the country. The work was due to be wrapped up by the end of the year, but Nanping now expects to complete the project by April 2002. Voith Paper will carry out the rebuilds of PM 3 and PM 4 for Nanping, which will include installation of soft calenders and upgrades of the forming section on both machines. The move will boost the combined capacity of the two machines from 80,000 tonnes/yr of newsprint to 100,000 tonnes/yr. Delivery of some of the equipment has been delayed until January next year, but Nanping is determined to complete the project within the following three months. Meanwhile, Nanping has clarified merger reports regarding a board mill in Fujian. A spokesman said that the company had agreed to buy 70 million shares or a 15% stake in the containerboard producer, Qingshan Paper Industry, at a cost of RMB 16 million ($1.9 million). The move will make Nanping the second largest shareholder in Qingshan. The step was designed to ease Qingshan's financial problem, in response to instruction from the provincial government. But Nanping insisted the companies are not about to merge. "The deal has nothing to do with a company merger," the spokesman added. Both Qingshan and Nanping are majority government-owned, and both are listed on the A list of the Shanghai stock exchange. Qingshan started up a 150,000 tonne/yr containerboard machine in June last year at its Qinzhou mill. The company has faced tough competition from domestic producers with large and modern PMs, including privately-owned players and foreign joint ventures. The Nanping mill in the Fujian province also houses a modern 6.1 m wide machine, PM 5. The Metso Paper unit started up in December 1999, and has a capacity of 200,000 tonnes/yr of newsprint. The mill retired its two original machines, PM 1 and PM 2, once PM 5 came on stream.