Tissue World Magazine | ExitIssues
THE PACE OF EXPANSION AT MARKET LEADER VELVET CARE IS GEARING UP AGAIN Capacity increases in converting and tissue machine output are being boosted by further investment as the company plans to “create a market” and then build the processing capacity to meet it, says Wanda Ciesielczuk, Vice President, Production & Technical Director. Report by TWM Senior Editor Helen Morris.
T
he recent pace of growth at Polish consumer tissue manufacturer Velvet Care has been little short of dynamic. A planned third paper machine in five years is part of a PLN364m investment. It means annual capacity will increase by about 40% to 210,000 tonnes. That is on the back of more than 60% production capacity increase to the business following the start-up of TM8, the plant’s second Valmet-supplied Advantage DCT line, in June 2022. The company currently has two production facilities, its headquarters in Klucze, Poland, and its Moracell unit in Zabcice, Czechia. The acquisition of a third facility, family-owned Polish tissue converting company Almus, was announced in January and is awaiting approval from the country’s competition regulator. Before adding Almus, the business today has three tissue machines based in Klucze and 18 converting lines: 16 at Velvet Care’s headquarters, and two in the Czech Republic. The company’s expansion in recent years also included the 2020 acquisition of Moracell, the largest manufacturer of paper hygiene products in Czechia. TWM put the question to Vice President, Production & Technical Director Wanda Ciesielczuk – what is
40 | Nov/Dec
the strategy behind such volume expansion? “Our business strategy is to create a market and then build the converting capacity using outside supplies of tissue. We then build our own paper machine to ensure we have regular supplies of the highest-quality raw materials. “We’ll also need a new source of raw materials for Almus once the deal goes through. We’ve signed an agreement with the Kraków Technology Park, which is part of Poland’s scheme of special economic zones for investors. We’ll receive tax incentives for this investment, TM9, which will be our fourth operational paper machine. “Since 2017, our converting capacity has increased from 88,000tpy to 184,000tpy in 2023, whilst our tissue machine capacity has increased from 36,000tpy in 2017 to 94,000tpy in 2021 and then to 154,000tpy in 2023.” Fundamental to the business is diversification. There is no focus on any one category or sales channel: “We’re developing and growing in all three areas: our Velvet brand – which is Poland’s most popular in the hygiene paper category – as well as private label, and also AfH products. “The pandemic offered us a very clear lesson of the dangers of orienting the company to just a single area. When restaurants and hotels were all shutting
www.tissueworldmagazine.com
