Asia Pacific Rayon India Ltd (APRIL) plans to increase its production capacity of up to 600,000 tonne to meet the strong growth potential of viscose staple fiber (VSF) and strengthen its market position in Indonesia and export markets across the region.

As per Sachin Malik, Head, Global Sales, the additional capacity will be achieved through improved optimization and efficiencies, and by constructing a 300,000-tonne viscose production facility in Pangkalan Kerinci, where APR is co-located with its sister company and fiber supplier, APRIL Group.

The expansion will utilize APRIL’s current rayon grade AE pulp capacity from existing pulp production lines, with fiber supplied from APRIL’s responsibly managed renewable fiber plantations in compliance with internationally recognized forest certification standards and its sustainability policy and in keeping with the recently announced APR2030 commitments and targets.

Construction of APRIL’s additional production lines is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2021 and will include features such as a chemical recovery process upgrade, slush-pulp processing installation and other investments aimed at reducing APR’s energy use and environmental footprint. Upon completion of the additional production lines in 2023,

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) is one of the world’s key producers of viscose rayon. APR has penetrated Bangladesh within a few years after first being introduced to this important market that has been traditionally dominated by cotton.