Eldorado Brazil Starts up World's Largest Pulp Mill in Brazil

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The new line's raw material is wood from planted eucalyptus forests. Production is to be exported to paper producing markets in South America, North America, Europe, and Asia. The new plant will be responsible for 20% of all Brazil's exports, with revenue estimated at $1 billion a year.

The key supplier for the new pulp line, Andritz, Graz, Austria, provided the following:

• Woodyard-- three complete wood receiving and chipping lines, conveyors, stacker/reclaimer, four chip screens, and biomass handling.
• Fiberline--single vessel continuous digester with Lo-Solids cooking, washing, screening, and low-impact bleaching based on the DD washer technology by Andritz.
• Pulp drying plant—including automated baling lines. The two dewatering machines (working width 6.67 m each) based on twin wire former technology that has already been proved in several high-capacity pulp mill projects around the world.
• White liquor plant (recausticizing and lime kiln)—designed to produce 15,700 cubic meters/day of white liquor for the cooking plant. The plant features green liquor filtration based on X-Filter technology, the CD-Filter for white liquor filtration, and LMD-Filter for lime mud washing. The lime kiln is the largest installed in South America.

Following startup of the new line, the company plans a $3.225 billion, two-phase expansion that will add a production line in 2017 and 2021, creating, by far, the world's largest pulp mill. The 2017 phase will double the mill's capacity to 3 million metric tpy, and the 2021 phase will increase total production capacity to 5 million metric tpy of eucalyptus kraft pulp.

The mill uses Best Available Technology (BAT) and is "focused on the sustainability of industrial and forestry processes," Eldorado notes. The company also points out that the new mill has been designed to optimize energy. It is self-sufficient in electricity produced from biomass and "will contribute to the conscientious use of natural resources." This will help improve production costs, which will be among the most competitive on the market, the company adds.

The characteristics of the municipality of Três Lagoas, with its relief, soil, climate, infrastructure, and logistics, combined with the welcoming attitude of the local people and support offered by the First Sector, contributed to the choice of where the mill is located, Eldorado emphasizes. The mill will enjoy unique logistics for incoming raw materials and shipping production. Transport benefits include highways, railroads, and the Tietê-Parana waterway, all of which allow production to be shipped to the port of Santos, in São Paulo state.

Eucalyptus fiber for the new mill and its expanded operations in 2017 and 2021 will be supplied by eucalyptus plantation operator Florestral Brasil S.A. In November 2011, the incorporation of Florestal Brasil by Eldorado was approved "by way of a material fact," the company explains. The decision on the incorporation was taken in view of the fact that the unification of the operations would optimize the companies' activities and result in efficiency gains. "Considering that Florestal Brasil's core business was the production of eucalyptus forests, and that Eldorado Celulose e Papel produces and sells pulp, the incorporation raises the prospect of better results," Eldorado says.

Florestal Brasil was founded in July 2007 and began its forestry operations by planting eucalyptus and producing seedlings in its own nurseries, with a capacity to produce 3 million cloned seedlings a month.