Asia Honour Paper Industries (M) Sdn. Bhd., formerly known as Malaysian Newsprint Industries Sdn. Bhd. (abbreviated MNI), is a pulp and paper company based in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It operates a single pulp mill and paper mill in

Mentakab Mentakab (alternately ''Mentekab'', Jawi: منتاكب, Pahang Malay: ''Mentekak'') is a town, a mukim (commune) and a state assembly constituency in Temerloh District in central Pahang, Malaysia. It is northwest from downtown Temerloh and n ...

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

, which produces an annual 280,000 tonnes of newsprint sourced entirely from

deinked pulp Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibers from wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemical or plant-based additives, pulp is the major raw ma ...

from

recycled paper The recycling of paper is the process by which waste paper is turned into new paper products. It has a number of important benefits: It saves waste paper from occupying homes of people and producing methane as it breaks down. Because paper fib ...

. In 2017, MNI was the largest supplier for Media Chinese International Ltd, which owns local mandarin newspapers such as ''

Sin Chew Daily ''Sin Chew Daily'' (), formerly known as ''Sin Chew Jit Poh'', is a leading Chinese-language newspaper in Malaysia. According to report from the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the period ending 31 December 2011, ''Sin Chew Daily'' has an averag ...

'' and ''

Nanyang Siang Pau ''Nanyang Siang Pau'' or ''Nanyang Business Daily'' () was founded by philanthropist-entrepreneur Tan Kah Kee on 6 September 1923 in Straits Settlements, currently published in Malaysia. ''Nanyang Siang Pau'' is one of the oldest Chinese-langua ...

''.

History

The company was established in 1996, in an attempt to allow Malaysian and Singaporean newspaper to source their newsprint without having to import. The company was established as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and economic risk, risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four rea ...

between the New Zealand newsprint manufacturer

Fletcher Challenge Fletcher Challenge was a multinational corporation from New Zealand. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Fletcher Holdings, Challenge Corporation and Tasman Pulp and Paper. It had holdings in construction, forestry, building, and energy, ini ...

Paper, the Malaysian family conglomerate the

Hong Leong Group Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad () is a conglomerate based in Malaysia. Founded as a trading company in 1963 by Quek Leng Chan and Kwek Hong Png, the company controls 14 listed companies involved in the financial services, manufacturing, distr ...

, each with 33.65 percent of the shares, with the remainder split between the

New Straits Times Press The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad (NSTP) is a Malaysian conglomerate of publishing companies, owned by Media Prima. The NSTP publishes several newspapers, including the ''New Straits Times'', ''Berita Harian'' and ''Harian Metro''. His ...

and

Rimbunan Hijau Rimbunan Hijau is a Malaysian multinational logging corporation controlled by Malaysian businessman Tiong Hiew King. The company has operations in many countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Vanuatu, ...

. The mill opened in April 1999, having cost 500 million

United States dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the officia ...

s. Fletcher Challenge Paper was bought by

Norske Skog Norske Skog ASA, formerly Norske Skogindustrier ASA, which translates as ''Norwegian Forest Industries'', is a Norwegian pulp and paper company established in 1962. The company has long been one of the world's leading manufacturers of newsprint ...

in 2000, who took over the ownership stake in MNI.

Losses and subsequent sold off

On 2 May 2018, citing the declining newsprint demand, MNI's then owner Hong Leong Industry Berhad and New Straits Times sold off their respective shares for RM22.3 million and RM14.15 million respectively to Asia Honour (Hong Kong) Limited. By then, the company had been making losses for three consecutive years. Subsequently on 17 February 2020, Malaysian Newsprint Industries Sdn Bhd officially renamed and rebranded to Asia Honour Paper Industries (M) Sdn. Bhd. to reflect its new owner.

References

External links

* Pulp and paper companies of Malaysia Companies based in Kuala Lumpur Renewable resource companies established in 1996 Malaysian companies established in 1996 Fletcher Challenge Media Prima Norske Skog Privately held companies of Malaysia 2000 mergers and acquisitions 2018 mergers and acquisitions 1996 establishments in Malaysia {{Malaysia-company-stub