By Mark Rushton, Editor, Pulp & Paper International Magazine, RISI
Calling it the "largest and most sophisticated machine in the world for the production of UWF paper" Portuguese group Portucel Soporcel recently started test runs on its brand new 10.4 m width Metso machine which will boost the group's annual paper output to 1.5 million tonnes. The Euro 550 million (US$800 million) investment has directly created 350 new highly skilled jobs, and will help increase the nation's export capacity by a total of 4% starting in 2010. The President of the Republic of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, will officially open the facility later this year.
The group is already very important to the Portuguese economy, and in particular to the Setúbal region where the new development has taken place. The group currently has a workforce of 2,200 employees, to be increased with the 350 new jobs that have been created.
Chairman of the group, Pedro Queiroz Pereira, says: "With the new mill, the Portucel Soporcel group is pressing ahead despite the economic crisis which will allow it to consolidate its position amongst the leading companies in this sector worldwide. The promise of more paper and more woodlands has been added thanks to the sustainable management of our forestry plantations."
The new facility complies with the strictest environmental standards , and the new investment has involved the building of a new combined co-generation power station with 80 MW natural gas turbines which will not only meet the new mill's power and steam needs, but will also become a vital ‘green energy' supplier to the national grid in the region.
José Honório, CEO of the group says: "This project has demonstrated the group's entrepreneurial capacity and the expertise of its workforce. The new paper mill will also make us more competitive, clearly positioning the group as Europe's leading manufacturer of UWF paper."
The new machine has a capacity of 500,000 tonnes/yr, which it will produce at a speed of 1,800 m/min.
