Tissue producers have a familiar fibre problem.

Long fibres provide strength.

Short fibres help deliver softness, formation and surface properties.

Use too little long fibre and the sheet can become difficult to run or too weak for converting.

Use too much and the furnish becomes more expensive than it needs to be.

Gold Hongye Paper Group is now trying to change that balance at two of its Chinese tissue operations.

The APP China tissue business has started up two Andritz PrimeRefine HC T high-consistency refining systems—one at its Rudong mill in Nantong, Jiangsu, and another at its Xiaogan mill in Hubei.

Andritz says each system combines a screw press with a high-consistency refiner and is intended to develop short fibres while minimizing fibre cutting and fines generation. The supplier says this can allow mills to reduce the proportion of long fibre in the furnish while maintaining, or in some cases slightly improving, important tissue properties.

That sounds like a stock-preparation upgrade.

The more important story is economic.

If short fibres can carry more of the sheet-strength requirement, a tissue mill can potentially change the value equation of its entire fibre furnish.

For large integrated producers such as Gold Hongye, that could influence pulp purchasing, internal fibre allocation, tissue quality and ultimately cost per tonne.

Tissue strength is expensive because fibre length matters

Tissue is an unusual paper grade.

Consumers want it to feel soft and bulky.

Converters want enough strength to emboss, perforate, wind and package it.

Paper machines need enough wet and dry web strength to operate reliably at high speed.

Those requirements do not naturally point toward the same furnish.

Softwood kraft pulp typically provides relatively long fibres, giving the sheet a strong reinforcing network.

Hardwood kraft pulp contains shorter fibres, which can contribute to formation, softness and surface quality but normally provide less reinforcement per fibre.

For that reason, tissue recipes frequently blend the two.

The long-fibre portion acts almost like reinforcement inside the sheet.

The commercial problem is that increasing it is not free.

If a mill can make the short-fibre fraction contribute more effectively to strength, it may be able to reduce the long-fibre requirement without simply producing a weaker tissue.

That is what makes Gold Hongye’s refining investment more interesting than an ordinary equipment replacement.

Conventional refining can solve one problem while creating another

Refining develops pulp fibres so they bond more effectively.

But more refining does not automatically mean better tissue.

Andritz describes conventional low-consistency tissue refining as typically operating at around 3–5% stock consistency.

At those conditions, mechanical action can straighten and externally fibrillate fibres, improving bonding.

But excessive treatment can also shorten fibres and create additional fines.

That creates a difficult trade-off.

More bonding can increase tensile strength.

At the same time, excessive refining can reduce:

bulk,

softness,

absorbency,

and fibre length.

Andritz also argues that additional fines can contribute to tissue dust and operating-housekeeping problems.

This is particularly important in tissue because the producer is not trying to maximize strength in the same way as a packaging-paper mill.

A containerboard producer may willingly accept denser fibre bonding if it produces more compression strength.

A facial tissue producer cannot.

The sheet still has to feel like tissue.

High-consistency refining changes how mechanical energy reaches the fibre

The PrimeRefine HC T takes a different approach.

Andritz says the pulp is first thickened from roughly 3–5% consistency to around 26% before entering the refining zone.

At this much higher consistency, fibre-to-fibre interaction becomes more important.

Rather than primarily relying on conventional low-consistency fibre-to-metal action, the high-consistency process subjects fibres to kneading and friction within the dense fibre mass.

According to Andritz, the resulting fibres show more internal fibrillation while retaining more of their original length. Some fibres become curled, kinked or micro-compressed instead of simply being cut shorter.

That morphology matters.

A short hardwood fibre does not suddenly become a long softwood fibre.

The objective is different.

It is to make the short fibre contribute more useful bonding and strength before the mill has to compensate by adding another tonne of long-fibre pulp.

That makes this a furnish-optimization technology

The easiest way to misunderstand the technology would be to describe it simply as a better refiner.

Its real value depends on what happens to the furnish after refining.

Andritz says commercial applications have demonstrated reductions in long-fibre consumption of up to 15% while maintaining required strength and preserving or improving properties such as bulk, softness and absorbency.

That is a supplier-reported figure, not a universal outcome that should be assumed for Gold Hongye.

Andritz has not disclosed:

Gold Hongye’s original long-fibre ratio,

the new furnish ratio,

fibre cost savings,

energy consumption,

or tissue-property results from the Rudong and Xiaogan installations.

Those numbers would be required before calculating the actual economics of these two projects.

But the direction is clear.

The equipment is intended to change how much premium reinforcing fibre the tissue recipe requires.

That is potentially much more valuable than a small reduction in refining power or maintenance.

Long-fibre reduction can become significant at tissue scale

The economics multiply quickly at a large producer.

Imagine a tissue furnish in which long fibre accounts for 25% of total pulp.

A 15% reduction in long-fibre consumption does not mean long fibre disappears.

It would reduce that portion from 25% to approximately 21.25% if all other assumptions remained equal.

That is only 3.75 percentage points of the total furnish.

On one tonne of tissue, it may not look dramatic.

Across hundreds of thousands of tonnes of tissue production, it becomes a substantial pulp volume.

The actual Gold Hongye numbers have not been disclosed, so this should be treated only as an illustration.

But it explains why fibre optimization attracts investment.

Tissue machines consume fibre continuously.

Small changes in furnish cost are multiplied over every tonne produced.

Gold Hongye is large enough for small furnish changes to matter

Gold Hongye is one of China’s largest tissue producers and serves as APP China’s tissue business unit.

Its own Chinese corporate information says the group has 12 manufacturing plants across the country and employs more than 12,000 people.

Industry reporting in June 2026 put its combined household-tissue capacity at approximately 2.13 million tonnes per year, while additional projects remain under development.

The Rudong site is particularly significant.

Gold Hongye is continuing to expand the base, with Chinese industry reporting describing plans that could ultimately lift the site’s tissue capacity to around 2.04 million tonnes per year while also adding major pulp capacity.

At that scale, fibre strategy is not a laboratory issue.

It is one of the major operating-cost levers.

Every percentage point shifted between fibre categories can translate into large annual changes in pulp consumption.

Integration does not remove the value of fibre efficiency

Gold Hongye operates within APP’s integrated plantation-pulp-paper structure.

That can give the business more control over fibre than an independent tissue converter buying all pulp on the merchant market.

But vertical integration does not make pulp free.

A tonne of long fibre consumed in tissue still has an economic value.

It required:

wood,

pulping chemicals,

energy,

recovery capacity,

drying,

transport,

and mill capacity.

If a tissue operation can achieve equivalent product performance with less of that fibre, the remaining pulp can potentially be redirected toward another grade or another customer.

This is an important distinction.

Integrated producers do not eliminate raw-material economics.

They internalize more of them.

That can actually make fibre optimization more strategically valuable because purchasing and pulp-production decisions can be coordinated across the group.

Hardwood becomes more valuable when it can do more work

The technology also changes how short fibre should be viewed.

Hardwood pulp is often discussed in tissue primarily as the fibre that delivers softness and formation.

High-consistency refining attempts to make it contribute more actively to structural performance.

Andritz explicitly developed PrimeRefine HC T around hardwood and non-wood short fibres rather than treating the system primarily as another softwood refiner.

That makes the technology particularly relevant in Asia.

The region has access not only to hardwood kraft pulp but also to substantial non-wood fibre streams.

Andritz says more than 50 PrimeRefine HC T systems are now operating or under execution, processing raw materials including:

hardwood pulp,

bamboo,

bagasse,

and reed pulp.

This is one reason the equipment story extends beyond Gold Hongye.

It points toward a broader attempt to extract more tissue performance from fibre resources that historically needed stronger reinforcement from long softwood fibres.

Bamboo, bagasse and reed make the technology more strategically interesting

Non-wood fibres introduce another dimension.

China and other Asian markets have significant tissue production based partly on bamboo.

Bagasse is available in sugar-producing regions.

Reed pulp has its own established applications.

These fibres do not behave identically.

They differ in:

fibre length,

cell-wall characteristics,

fines content,

drainage,

bonding response,

and refining behaviour.

A refining system capable of handling several short and non-wood furnish types can give mills greater freedom to optimize around regional fibre availability.

That does not mean hardwood, bamboo, bagasse and reed are interchangeable.

They are not.

But it means the refiner becomes part of a broader fibre-flexibility strategy.

A mill capable of extracting more strength from locally or internally available short fibre may be less dependent on a narrow long-fibre recipe.

The technology also has an important limitation: energy

There is no free gain.

Andritz itself acknowledges that high-consistency refining generally requires more refining energy than conventional low-consistency refining.

That is important because it changes how the business case should be evaluated.

A mill cannot simply ask:

How much long-fibre pulp do we save?

It has to compare:

additional refining electricity,

fibre savings,

changes in tissue-machine operation,

quality improvements,

dust reduction,

bulk,

softness,

absorbency,

and potentially converting performance.

The optimum will vary by mill.

If electricity is expensive and long fibre relatively cheap, the economics will differ from a mill facing expensive imported softwood pulp but relatively favorable power costs.

This is why the strongest claim is not that high-consistency refining is automatically cheaper.

It is that the technology gives tissue makers another economic trade-off to optimize.

Bulk may be almost as important as strength

The fibre-cost story becomes even more interesting when bulk is considered.

Tissue is often sold to consumers by dimensions that are not directly connected to paper mass.

A toilet roll has a diameter.

A facial tissue has a perceived thickness and softness.

A kitchen towel is expected to feel substantial.

If refining makes the sheet denser and lowers bulk, the producer may need more basis weight or more sheets to provide the same consumer impression.

Andritz argues that its high-consistency approach can preserve or improve bulk relative to a more aggressively low-consistency-refined furnish.

If that is achieved in commercial production, the value does not come only from fibre substitution.

It can help prevent another hidden cost: using more total fibre just to restore the perceived thickness lost during refining.

This is why tissue fibre economics cannot be reduced to dollars per tonne of pulp.

The interaction between fibre morphology and consumer perception matters.

Softness creates the same problem

Strength and softness frequently pull tissue design in opposite directions.

More fibre bonding usually helps tensile properties.

But strongly bonded, dense sheets can feel less soft.

Producers therefore spend considerable effort balancing:

furnish,

refining,

creping,

chemistry,

embossing,

basis weight,

and machine conditions.

A refining strategy that improves useful fibre bonding without requiring the same degree of external fibrillation could offer more room in that balance.

Again, Gold Hongye’s actual softness and tensile results have not been published.

Andritz only says key tissue properties can be maintained or slightly improved.

Those claims need application-specific operating data before they can be generalized.

But this is precisely why the technology is worth watching.

The target is not simply stronger pulp.

It is more efficient strength.

Fines are another hidden cost

Fines generated during refining have complicated effects.

Some fines can improve bonding.

Too many can affect drainage, bulk, dust and machine operation.

Andritz specifically positions the PrimeRefine HC T as producing fewer fines than a low-consistency refiner operating toward a comparable strength objective.

That could have consequences beyond the pulp laboratory.

Tissue dust matters in:

machine halls,

converting lines,

air systems,

housekeeping,

finished-product quality,

and potentially combustible-dust management.

Andritz has linked excessive fines with greater dust generation in tissue manufacturing.

It would be premature to claim that Gold Hongye’s two installations will materially reduce plant dust without operating data.

But fines reduction is a useful secondary metric to monitor.

The successful business case may ultimately combine fibre substitution with cleaner converting and better product feel rather than depend on one variable.

The two Gold Hongye installations also reduce technology risk

There is another reason the announcement matters.

One installation can be a trial.

Two installations at separate production bases suggest a broader level of confidence.

Gold Hongye has installed the technology at both Rudong and Xiaogan rather than confining the approach to one pilot operation.

Andritz also says more than 50 systems are now operating or under execution globally.

That does not prove every installation has delivered identical savings.

But it shows high-consistency tissue refining has moved beyond a niche demonstration technology.

The market question is increasingly changing from:

Does high-consistency short-fibre refining work?

to:

For which furnishes and tissue grades does it create enough value to justify the additional energy and capital?

That is a much more mature technology discussion.

Vietnam shows the technology is spreading beyond one customer

Gold Hongye is not an isolated example.

In August 2026, Andritz announced that Xuong Giang Paper had started a tissue stock-preparation system in Vietnam that combines high-consistency refining for bleached hardwood kraft pulp with conventional low-consistency refining for bleached softwood kraft pulp.

That configuration is particularly revealing.

Rather than asking one refiner to treat every fibre identically, the system assigns different refining approaches to different fibre fractions.

Short hardwood fibres receive high-consistency treatment.

Long softwood fibres retain a conventional low-consistency refining route.

That supports the idea that the future of tissue stock preparation may become more fibre-specific.

Not all pulp needs the same mechanical treatment.

The furnish can be separated, optimized and recombined according to the job each fibre is expected to perform.

That could make stock preparation more important in tissue competitiveness

Tissue-machine technology usually receives most of the attention.

Yankee dryers.

Shoe presses.

Structured tissue.

Air systems.

Creping.

Converting.

Yet the sheet’s performance begins before the stock ever reaches the headbox.

If stock preparation can change the ratio of expensive fibres required to achieve the same tissue specification, its economic impact can be large without changing the machine’s nominal production rate.

That is why refining deserves to be thought of as more than an auxiliary process.

It directly influences:

furnish cost,

paper strength,

bulk,

softness,

absorbency,

dust,

and runnability.

Those variables ultimately determine how many saleable tonnes the mill produces and what each tonne costs.

Fibre flexibility could become more valuable as tissue competition increases

China’s tissue market has expanded rapidly over the past decade, accompanied by substantial new capacity.

For large producers, that puts increasing pressure on differentiation and manufacturing cost.

Gold Hongye is continuing to expand while already operating a nationwide manufacturing network and major consumer brands. Its Chinese corporate site identifies Breeze, Virjoy and Elis among its key tissue and personal-care brands.

In that environment, fibre optimization matters for two reasons.

The first is obvious: cost.

The second is product flexibility.

A producer serving several tissue categories does not want one rigid furnish.

Facial tissue.

Toilet tissue.

Kitchen towel.

Napkins.

Premium grades.

Value grades.

Each can have different strength and softness requirements.

A stock-preparation system that expands the usable operating window of short fibre gives the mill more options when designing those recipes.

The biggest missing number is Gold Hongye’s actual long-fibre reduction

This is the key metric to watch.

Andritz has disclosed its general claim of up to 15% lower long-fibre consumption in commercial applications.

It has not said whether Gold Hongye achieved:

3%,

8%,

15%,

or any other specific reduction.

Nor has it disclosed the change in electrical energy consumption.

Without those figures, no credible calculation of payback is possible.

The same applies to quality.

We do not yet know Gold Hongye’s before-and-after results for:

tensile strength,

bulk,

softness,

absorption,

dust,

or machine efficiency.

That is where future operating data would add much more value than another equipment announcement.

The technology’s real commercial significance is not that a refiner started successfully.

It is whether the mill can permanently alter its fibre recipe after startup.

Repeat adoption will be the stronger proof

Andritz says customer recognition and repeat orders have helped push PrimeRefine HC T deployment beyond 50 systems.

That is encouraging but still supplier-reported evidence.

For the tissue industry, the strongest proof will come from purchasing behavior.

Does a producer install one system and then order another?

Does the furnish remain changed after pulp prices move?

Does the equipment continue delivering the required product quality after several years?

Does it work across multiple tissue grades?

Gold Hongye’s decision to put the technology into two separate mills is therefore more meaningful than a one-line statement about quality.

Repeat deployment suggests the company sees enough potential value to use the approach across more than one production environment.

The real competition is increasingly about fibre productivity

Paper producers often measure productivity in machine terms.

Tonnes per day.

Metres per minute.

Efficiency.

Downtime.

But tissue producers also need another metric:

How much consumer performance can one tonne of fibre deliver?

If refining allows the same amount of tissue strength to be produced with less long fibre, fibre productivity improves.

If higher bulk means less paper is required to build the same roll diameter, fibre productivity improves again.

If lower fines reduce converting losses, another portion of purchased fibre becomes saleable product.

This is a different interpretation of efficiency.

It does not necessarily make the paper machine faster.

It extracts more economic value from the pulp already entering the mill.

That is why Gold Hongye’s investment matters beyond two refiners

At first glance, the September 15 announcement is a straightforward supplier story.

Two high-consistency refiners started.

One in Jiangsu.

One in Hubei.

But its significance lies in what the equipment is trying to replace.

Not another refiner.

Part of the long-fibre requirement.

That makes the technology relevant to pulp producers, tissue makers and fibre strategists alike.

For short-fibre-rich markets, high-consistency refining could become one more tool for reducing dependence on softwood reinforcement.

For non-wood fibre producers, it could widen the usable role of bamboo, bagasse or reed.

For integrated producers such as Gold Hongye, it could change where internal pulp is most profitably allocated.

And for tissue brands, the challenge remains unchanged:

the consumer must not notice the cost optimization.

The tissue still needs to feel soft.

It still needs enough strength.

It still needs the expected absorbency and bulk.

That is the real test of PrimeRefine HC T.

Not whether it can refine hardwood differently.

But whether it can make cheaper fibre architecture invisible to the consumer.

If Gold Hongye can achieve that consistently at Rudong and Xiaogan, this equipment investment becomes more than a stock-preparation upgrade.

It becomes a fibre-cost strategy.

Last Updated on 17/09/2026 by Jota Machinery