Jakarta. Asia Pacific Resources International, a producer of fiber, pulp and paper with production base in Indonesia, announced on Thursday (21/2) it has signed Memorandum of Understanding with a total value of $50 million with two European companies to strengthen its cooperation with international partners.

In a statement sent to the Jakarta Globe on Thursday, April said it has signed an MOU with Papier Union, a manufacturer and distributor of paper and printing products with business value worth $35 million.

April also said to have signed another MOU with Roxcel Group, which trades raw material solutions for the printing and packaging industry, with an estimated value of $15 million.

The MOUs are part of a number of MOUs signed by Indonesian companies, whose executives accompanied President Joko Widodo's trip to Eurpe from April 18 to 22.

April Group's Managing Director Tony Wenas signed the MOU with Papier Union's Managing Director Thomas Schimanowski at Adlon Kempinsky hotel in Berlin. Meanwhile, for Roxcel Group, the MOU signing was done in Mandarin Oriental hotel of Hyde Park in London, England.

April didn't disclose the MOUs details.

"[Buyers] from the European market has made commitments to increase their demand gradually in the next few years," Tony said in the statement.

He believes the MOUs to strengthen penetration of April's products to the European market. April's PaperOne product has been exported to 75 countries, with focus markets into Asia, Pacific, Australia and China.

Aiming for a higher market, April's subsidiary Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) has started development of a Rp 4 trillion paper production facility in Riau province since May last year.

The facility, its third paper mill, or called Paper Machine 3, will produce high grade digital paper, designed for high-quality digital color printing.

According to data from the industry ministry, Indonesia's installed capacity of its pulp and paper industry is able to produce by up to 7.93 million tons of pulp per year and 12.98 million tons of paper per year.

The actual production form the industry is about 6.4 million tons of pulp and 10.4 million of paper per year.

With such figures, Indonesia sits at the 9th rank for its pulp industry and the 6th for its paper industry in the world. In Asia, it sits as the 3rd largest for both pulp and paper.