Ipel to Start up New Brazil Tissue Machine in April

Ipel (Indaial Papel Embalagens), Brazil, plans to start up its new tissue machine in April. According to a report by RISI, Brussels, Belgium, the mill’s new PM 4 will come on-stream after a series of delays since the project was first announced in 2008. .

The new tissue machine has a production capacity of 26,400 metric tpy, which, as RISI notes, more than doubles the company’s current output of around 24,000 metric tpy. The Ipel mill, the company’s only one, is located in Indaial city, Santa Catarina state. It has three tissue machines with a combined production capacity of 2,000 metric tons per month. 

 

The new PM 4 and related equipment were supplied by Hergen Paper Machinery, Brazil. It has a 4,880-mm-dia yankee dryer and one of the largest yankee dryer hoods produced in Brazil. The machine operates at a speed of 2,000 m/min.

 

In the RISI report, Luciana Dobuchak, Ipel’s marketing manager, said that the project delays occurred because the investment was being carried out with the company’s own resources only. "We wanted to avoid a debt increase or any financial commitment," she explained.