Saudi Arabia’s Middle East Paper Company (MEPCO) announced a ceremony on October 22 to mark installation of the sole plates for its fifth paper machine, PM5, at Jeddah’s Third Industrial City. The plates form the machine’s foundation and support the positioning, alignment and stability of its components. MEPCO described the installation as an engineering milestone in the project’s progress, but did not report a completion percentage or any production starting at the site.

MEPCO says PM5 is designed to add 450,000 tonnes a year of lightweight fluting and liner grades used in packaging paper. Fluting is the corrugated inner layer of cardboard, while liner forms its flat outer surfaces. The company said the machine will use Voith technology, run at a design speed of 1,600 metres per minute and produce paper with basis weights between 70 and 140 grams per square metre. These are design specifications, not actual operating speed, product quality, sales or annual output.

The project’s schedule and cost had been updated in a MEPCO disclosure to the Saudi Exchange on September 30. The company moved its expected start of trial and commercial production from the fourth quarter of 2027 to the first quarter of 2028. Its estimated project cost rose 5.7%, from about SAR 1.78 billion to SAR 1.881 billion. MEPCO attributed the delay to supply-chain disruption associated with regional geopolitical conditions. It said the cost increase reflected higher civil construction costs, an enhanced steam and power solution, and higher global freight and logistics costs.

In the September filing, MEPCO put the project’s estimated internal rate of return at 12%. It said the additional production is expected to contribute to EBITDA only after production begins, so that financial impact has not yet been realised. The October 22 sole-plate ceremony records progress at the project site; it does not revise the previously disclosed 2028 production target or cost estimate.

MEPCO presents PM5 as part of a plan to expand domestic paper manufacturing and strengthen local supply chains, including by creating more value from recycled materials. The October announcement did not provide measured figures for recycled-fibre sourcing, energy use, waste reduction or customers for the planned capacity. The project should therefore be understood as a pre-commissioning investment and planned capacity addition, rather than completed output growth or a confirmed export outcome.