China's kraft pulp giant

Success story: Liansheng

China's kraft pulp giant: the ANDRITZ contribution

How a family-owned firm built the country's largest kraft pulp mill and a fully integrated pulp and tissue production complex – and turned it into a sustainable, fossil-free powerhouse – in record time.

On a humid evening in late July 2024, engineers gathered at Liansheng Pulp & Paper’s new mill on China’s southeast coast. At 7 p.m., the signal came: the first black liquor ignition in the recovery boiler. For General Manager Xue Rongjun, this was the moment that would validate 28 months of work.

Sixty-six days earlier, the boiler had been undergoing hydrostatic tests – a startup interval that set a new industry benchmark, achieved with ANDRITZ support and technology.

In Zhangzhou, Liansheng has built China’s largest kraft pulp mill, the anchor of a 300-hectare integrated complex, producing carton board, printing and writing grades, and tissue. The mill generates 1.6 billion metric tons of kraft pulp annually.

Alongside the kraft pulp mill, Liansheng has made a decisive step forward with its new tissue production lines, which have delivered a threefold improvement in capacity, quality, and efficiency, positioning Liansheng as a leading player. ANDRITZ was chosen to supply two PrimeLineTM W 2000 tissue lines, TM1 and TM2. By fully integrating tissue manufacturing with the on-side chemical pulp line, the company now secures its own pulp supply for tissue production.

When Liansheng entered the pulp & paper business in 1998, it was one more family-owned operator in a crowded market. Today, it runs the country’s largest kraft pulp mill, featuring the world’s biggest single lime kiln as well as 360° Stacker Reclaimers at a vast integrated site in Fujian province.

What makes it remarkable is a strategy built on sustainable, low-carbon production: a site designed to run entirely on renewable energy, where chips, pulp, paper, and power generation form an integrated, circular system.

BETTING ON FUJIAN’S COAST

The decision to build a kraft mill in Zhangzhou was made in 2021. Imported pulp, transported over long distances and subject to price swings, no longer matched the company’s ambitions. An integrated mill would cut operation costs, smooth quality variations and give the group strategic control over its fiber supply.

Fujian’s geography helped the business case. The site sits close to a deep-water port and within reach of extensive eucalyptus and acacia plantations.

TECHNOLOGICAL GIANTS

From the outset, Liansheng’s brief to ANDRITZ was clear: maximum capacity, high efficiency, and strong environmental performance.

“The choice of ANDRITZ to participate in the Liansheng chemical pulp project is mainly based on its profound technical accumulation and rich project experience in the chemical pulp field,” says Xue Rongjun, General Manager. “ANDRITZ’s equipment stands out in terms of stability, energy consumption control, and environmental protection performance.”

The mill features world- leading technology: the biggest 360° Stacker Reclaimers for chip handling, a high- volume fiberline with advanced COMPACT PRESS wash presses, the country’s largest recovery boiler, and the world’s largest single lime kiln and gasification plant. These innovations deliver efficient, fossil-free operations and support massive production volumes.

RACING TYPHOONS AND TIMELINES

The project was launched in March 2022, with a clear target: start-up in July 2024. Between those dates lay a pandemic, global supply chain disruption, and the challenge of building a gigafactory in coastal Fujian, with its long rainy season and seasonal typhoons.

At the peak of construction, over 8,000 workers were on site, joined by more than 60 ANDRITZ specialists. For the ANDRITZ China project team, this was the largest pulp project they had ever led themselves. Despite early equipment-supply challenges triggered by COVID-related disruptions, the timetable held. The first chips entered the digester in July 2024, as planned.

BREAKING START-UP RECORDS

The recovery boiler went from hydrostatic testing to black liquor operation in just 66 days – a new record. Within 87 days of feeding the first chips, the mill achieved its designed daily production capacity, roughly four months ahead of plan.

“The overall progress has been smooth, and it has now basically reached the designed production capacity,” says Liu Junwei, Vice General Manager of Chemical Pulping Liansheng. “The ANDRITZ team demonstrated strong professionalism and a collaborative spirit.”

ONGOING PERFORMANCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE

The mill is now running at a capacity of 5,600 metric tons a day, delivering top quality pulp at the same time as generating a significant amount of renewable energy for the pulp & paper integrated mill.

“Technically, ANDRITZ’s equipment performs outstandingly in automated control and process optimization,” confirms Xue Rongjun. “Its technology can effectively ensure the continuity of production and has obvious effects in energy conservation and consumption reduction, providing strong support for us to achieve efficient and green production.”

Back on that evening in July 2024, as the recovery boiler roared to life, the symbolism was clear. For Liansheng, it marked the transition from buyer to producer. For ANDRITZ’s Chinese team, proof they could deliver a world-scale kraft mill. And for China’s green transition, one more sign that its heavy industry can compete on sustainability as well as scale.

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