The Copec group company will install the unit 50 kilometers from the city of Inocência, on the left bank of the Sucuriú River, a region where Arauco has been operating since 2009 with forest management and wood sales.
Arauco, the Chilean manufacturer of cellulose and wood panels, has approved the construction of its first bleached cellulose factory in Brazil, the so-called "Sucuriú Project", in Mato Grosso do Sul, the firm belonging to the Copec holding company announced on Tuesday evening.
The factory will have an investment of US$ 4.6 billion, the largest in the history of the Chilean company, and an annual production capacity of around 3.5 million tons of cellulose, Copec added.
"This new plant involves an estimated investment of US$ 4.6 billion for its construction by Arauco Celulose do Brasil, a subsidiary of Arauco, with an annual production capacity of approximately 3,500,000 ADt of Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp (BEKP)," the company said.
The Arauco unit will be installed 50 kilometers from the city of Inocência, on the left bank of the Sucuriú River, a region where Arauco has been operating since 2009 with forest management and wood sales. Innocência is located about 250 kilometers from Ribas do Rio Pardo.
The unit will be supplied by Finnish company Valmet as equipment supplier.
ENVIRONMENTAL PERMITS
The firm explained that the Sucuriú Project pulp mill, located in Mato Grosso do Sul, is subject to obtaining the necessary environmental permits and financing.
The Chilean conglomerate estimates that the factory will begin operating in the last quarter of 2027, but stressed that the date "may be subject to changes and possible postponements that may be necessary during the development" of the project, which is already in the earthmoving phase.
Once completed, the plant will be larger than Suzano's newest production unit, which came into operation at the end of July this year in Ribas do Rio Pardo, also in Mato Grosso do Sul, with a single production line with a capacity of 2.55 million tons.
The Arauco plant will generate more than 400 megawatts (MW) of electricity, of which around 200 MW will be used for internal consumption of the industrial unit, Arauco said.
The surplus energy – sufficient to supply a city of more than 800,000 inhabitants – will be made available to the national system.
According to Arauco, the Mato Grosso do Sul government has a "well-structured" industrial and forestry policy for the sector and the state has a "very favorable" climate for eucalyptus plantations. The tree takes about seven years to grow and reach the ideal cutting point in the state. "It is half the time it takes this tree to grow in Chile (12 years)," said the company.
CAPITAL INCREASE
Copec said Arauco will finance the plan "with debt (through bank loans, bond issues and, eventually, export promotion loans), with an increase in its capital and with its own resources."
Arauco will call an extraordinary shareholders meeting on October 17 to seek an increase in its share capital of up to $1.2 billion to help leverage the project.
