Profile

Sinar Mas Group was founded in 1962 by Mr. Eka Tjipta Wijaya, a prominent Indonesian Chinese entrepreneur. At present, Sinar Mas Group comprises hundreds of incorporated companies with a total of 150,000 employees and an asset value worth a total of over US$20 billion, which is recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the largest consortiums in Indonesia. The investment of the Group spans Asia, North America, Europe and Australia, and has developed four core industries: pulp and paper making, finance, agriculture and food processing, and real estate.

The pulp and paper making division is Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), which is top 5 leading pulp & paper companies in the world, and the largest integrated plantation-pulp-paper company in Asia. APP was incorporated in Singapore in 1994.

APP traces its beginnings to 1972 with the start up of a small caustic soda manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Surabaya, Indonesia. After over 30-years development, APP now a fully integrated pulp and paper company producing bleached hardwood kraft pulp and a wide range of paper and packing products, from commdity-grade base paper to value-added paper products.I t is APP's commitment to customer satisfaction that enables us to grow our share in paper sales worldwide and broadening our presence through marketing offices in 65 countries on 6 continents.

APP has its principal operations located in Indonesia and China, with total assets worth over US$10 billion, an annual production capacity of over 13 million tonnes and over 700, 000 hectares of man-made plantations.

"Tradition and modernity go hand in hand" is a key to the company's success. We always esteem long term relationships with our customers as a part of our eastern tradition whilst we are also eager to embrace modern values as continuous innovation, efficiency and punctuality.

Since 1992, APP China has been investing in the Yangtze and Pearl Delta, pouring a huge amount of capital into the development of large world-class pulp and paper enterprise. These include Gold East Paper, Ningbo Zhonghua Paper, Ningbo Asia Pulp & Paper, Gold Huasheng Paper, Gong Hong Ye Paper and Hainan Jinhai Pulp & Paper, as well as several large-scale modern man-made plantations.

Currently, APP China has stakes in over 20 pulp and paper enterprises, as well as more than 20 forestry centres in China with approximately 28,000 employees and a total asset value worth US$8.9 billion (RMB 66 billion). The annual production capability is over 6.4 million tons. In 2006, APP China sales revenue exceeding to US$2.28 billion (RMB 21.4billion).

The growth of APP in Indonesia over the years can be traced by the following:

• 1972 - Tjiwi Kimia located in Indonesia was founded by Mr. Eka Tjipta Widjaja and started to operate as a small caustic soda manufacturer.

• December 1976 - Indah Kiat was formed as a joint venture between CV Berkat (an Indonesian company), Chung Hwa Pulp Corporation and Yuen Foong Yu Paper Manufacturing Company Ltd. from Taiwan.

• May 1986 - Sinar Mas Group acquired 67% of Indah Kiat´s total shares. Chung Hwa and Yuen Foong Yu had 23% and 10% shares respectively.

• December 1991 - Indah Kiat acquires PT Sinar Dunia Makmur – a manufacturer of industrial paper located in Serang with a production capacity of 900 tons/day.

• February 1994 - Pindo Deli become under control of APP.

The growth of APP in China over the years can be traced by the following:

• July 1992 - Sinar Mas Group expanded into the Chinese market with the establishment its first joint venture of Ningbo Zhonghua Paper, which produced high-quality duplex board.

• July 1995 - APP China first afforestation base was established in Guangdong.

• March 1996 - Gold Huasheng Paper (Suzhou Industrial Paper) was established. Now it is the largest carbonless copy paper manufacturer in China. Meanwhile Gold Hong Ye Paper (Suzhou Industrial Paper) was established, which now is the largest tissue paper maker in Asia.

• May 1997 - Gold East Paper (Jiangsu) was established and now it becomes the single largest-scale coated printing paper mill in the world.

• July 1998 - The headquarters of APP China was established in Shanghai, China.

• October 1999 - Hainan Jinhai Pulp & Paper was established.

• September 2003 - Gold East Paper and Ningbo Zhonghua Paper were ranked first and second respectively in the "Top 100 Most Prominent Overseas Chinese Enterprises" for 2000-2002.

• December 2004 - Ningbo Asia Pulp & Paper, now the world's largest and most advanced manufacturer of premium packaging paper, commenced business operations with a total investment of US$ 1.6 billion (RMB 11.83 billion). Reclycled paper constitutes approximately 55% of the raw materials used to manufacture products, of which high-quality duplex boards are predominant. Its annual capacity is designed 750,000 tons.

• March 2005 - The project to produce one million tonnes of pulp, inititated by Hainan Jinhai Pulp & Paper commenced operations. Now the mill is China's largest pulp producer, and also the world's largest single pulp production line.

• April 2005 - Sinar Mas Group topped the "Hurun 2005 China's List of Philanthropic Enterprises" issued by Hurun's "Millionaire" magazine.

• October 2005 - Gold East Paper and Ningbo Zhonghua Paper were awarded "Environmentally-Friendly Chinese Enterprise" award, the highest honour for environmental protection awarded by the National Environmental Protection Board of China. To date, only five papermaking enterprises have been honoured with this award in China, which APP China has two.

• March 2007 - Hainan Jinhai Pulp & Paper held an opening ceremony of the projection of 1.6 million tonnes of paper production.

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