DS Smith opens doors to £104m mill revamp at Kemsley

The corrugated packaging giant hosted an open day for corrugators to show off the rebuilt PM6 at the Kent site, which produces the firm's K-light paper at speeds of just under a kilometre every minute.

St Regis' revamped site, which it bought from M-Real last March, can now produce some 260,000 tonnes of lightweight CCM annually.

Production on the rebuilt 6.9m-wide paper machine began in January. K-light is 100% recycled and is available with flutings at 90gsm and liners at 100gsm.

St Regis managing director Chris Rosser said: "[The investment] shows our total commitment to the corrugated case materials market. We're delighted that K-light has been greeted so warmly by our customers."

The UK's other major lightweight CCM investment is Spanish group SAICA's £250m mill near Manchester. However, the company is currently reviewing both the timeline and costs for the mill and it is unclear when the mill will be built.