Ilim Group Produces First Market Pulp with New Line at Bratsk Mill

Ilim Group, St. Petersburg, Russia, this past week produced the first market pulp with its new softwood pulp line that was built at the Bratsk, Russia, mill. The company notes that this is a "key milestone" for the Big Bratsk project. Ramp up to full production will continue over the next six months.

"It is a great day for our company and all of the Russian pulp and paper industry. One of the largest projects in the industry for the past 30 years is reaching completion. We had successfully built the most modern softwood pulp line in the world. This will strengthen our position in key markets," said Paul Herbert, Ilim Group CEO.

Total investments in the Big Bratsk project exceeded $800 million dollars. The capacity of the new mill would be 720,000 metric tons of bleached softwood pulp per year. The total annual production volume in Bratsk will exceed 1 million metric tons. The majority of the production from the new fiber line will be exported to China.

TAPPI
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