Ence to complete Navia rebuild next year

By Michael Dixon, Editor, PPI This Week, RISI

BRUSSELS, Nov. 28, 2008 (RISI) - Ence is set to complete the upgrade of its 300,000 tonne/yr eucalyptus pulp plant in Navia, northern Spain, in the first quarter of 2009.

The company was initially hoping to wrap up the project toward the end of this year, but has been hit by some minor delays with the supply of the equipment.

Andritz is providing the mill with a new recovery boiler with black liquor combustion and a new bubbling fluidized bed biomass boiler. The supplier will also install a new pulp drying system.

The equipment is now expected to start up in January or February 2009. The project is set to boost the plant’s production by 200,000 tonnes/yr by the third quarter of next year.

The upgrade is part of Ence's plans to invest Euro 270 million ($342 million) to raise its eucalyptus market pulp capacity by some 240,000 tonnes/yr in Spain. The company is also carrying out some debottlenecking work at its two other plants.

The firm carried out most of the work at the 430,000 tonne/yr Pontevedra mill this year and is expected to wrap up the debottlenecking in the first half of next year taking capacity to 440,000 tonnes/yr.

Ence is looking to do some similar work at the Huelva facility next May. The company aims to raise the mill's capacity from 380,000 tonnes/yr to 410,000 tonnes/yr.