Umka, Serbia 23 May 2017 -- The recycled cartonboard company will raise production capacity of GD and GT board to 150,000 tpy in two steps over the next two to three years. €8m investment to be implemented in 2017.

Serbia's white lined chipboard (WLC) manufacturer Umka Cardboard Mill (Umka) has announced that it will invest €15m over the next two to three years to upgrade product quality and increase production capacity at the company's board mill in Belgrade. The investment project is to be implemented in two steps and will result in a 40,000 t increase in annual production capacity before the end of 2019.

The first phase of the investment is to be launched and completed in 2017 at an approximate cost of €8m. It included, among other things, the installation of a hot hard nip calender supplied by Bellmer Gapcon, which would increase the production capacity of the mill's single board machine by 20,000 t to 130,000 tpy, the company explained. The second investment phase is scheduled for implementation in 2019 and is set to raise production capacity of the Umka recycled board mill to 150,000 tpy.

According to Umka, the new investment cycle follows similar projects in the last decade. Total investments over the last ten years reportedly exceeded €50m.