BANTING (Oct 27): Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah on Thursday (Oct 27) officiated at the launch of GS Paperboard & Packaging Sdn Bhd's (GSPP) RM1.2 billion Paper Machine 3 (PM3) advanced paper making technology plant in Banting, Selangor.

This was after GSPP having reached another milestone with the completion of the PM3 on Nov 15 last year. The plant clocked in its first paper on Sept 30, 2021, and commercial run has started since April 1 this year.

Also present at the event were Tengku Permaisuri of Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin, Crown Prince of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, Selangor State Executive Councillor for Industry and Trade Datuk Teng Chang Khim, Selangor state government officials, as well as senior management personnel of GSPP and Oji Holdings Corp.

Oji president and group chief executive officer Hiroyuki Isono noted that Oji had continued investing in Malaysia to further strengthen its position as the largest paper, packaging and paper-related product company in the country since the acquisition of GSPP in 2010.

"Last month, we acquired the Adampak group, which is Southeast Asia's largest manufacturer of adhesive paper labels. To date, Oji has grown together with Malaysia's economy, and today, we have a total of 18 business locations, with total investment of more than US$1 billion (RM4.71 billion).

"As we look at the Southeast Asian and Indian markets as our business growth centre, we aim to be the number one total packaging material solution provider ever since we first stepped foot into Malaysia in 2010," he said in his opening speech.

He added that the RM1.2 billion PM3 project is equipped with the most advanced technology that is capable of producing high-quality paper products and meeting the needs of the packaging industry, both in Malaysia and the whole Asean region.

Under the paper division, GSPP has two existing paper machines, with a combined capacity of 300,000 metric tons per annum. With PM3, total production is expected to rise to 750,000 metric tons per annum.

Looking ahead, Oji's projection of its overseas sales ratio is over 50% in its midterm business plan. Besides expanding the industrial material sector, Oji has also been investing heavily in the functional material and disposable diaper businesses.

At a press conference after the launch, Hiroyuki said Oji remains committed to further investment in Malaysia, with the group via GSPP aiming to capture 50% of the paper-related product and packaging business market share, from 35% currently, in the country by 2025.

“We are trying to expand more in Malaysia, because I think the economy itself is still growing. A lot of manufacturers are moving to the Asean area. As such, we are aiming to be much bigger to serve in the Malaysian and Asean markets.

“We do not have an exact number of how much we will do, but definitely what we did in these last 10 years was US$1 billion. We will aim to do the same kind of big investment here in the next few decades,” he said.

On prospects, Hiroyuki observed that while demand for traditional paper, like printing or newsprint paper, is decreasing following the emergence of technology.

“Traditionally, people have been writing on notebooks, but right now, we can see people working or typing on their laptops. 

“But other than that, on the packaging side, there is huge demand, given the gradual movement from using plastic bags to wood-based material packaging. Therefore, we think that the market itself still has growth potential in the packaging field,” he said.