Fibria’s expansion project at its Três Lagoas Unit reaches 50% completion
Fibria, a Brazilian forestry company and the world’s leading eucalyptus pulp producer, has just reached 50% completion on its Horizonte 2 Project, which is the second pulp production line under construction at the company’s unit in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul.
With half of the works concluded, the Horizonte 2 Project continues to advance on schedule. The company expects the new production line to start operating in the early part of the fourth quarter of 2017.
“This is an important milestone in the expansion of our unit in Mato Grosso do Sul. It motivates our team, suppliers and partners and shows that the project is advancing at a brisk pace, on schedule and well under budget,” said Fibria CEO Marcelo Castelli.
The Horizonte 2 Project reaching 50% completion featured the delivery of important construction phases and marks the start of a new phase of the project.
“We now embark on a new phase, which includes processes involving the engineering, manufacture, delivery and electromechanical assembly of all the equipment needed for the new pulp production line,” said Fibria’s Engineering and Projects Director, Julio Cesar Rodrigues da Cunha.
Fibria’s Três Lagoas Unit adopts the most modern concepts in ecodesign, with cleaner and more efficient production processes. In addition, all the energy consumed is generated by the mill itself using biomass in the form of eucalyptus bark and the liquid biomass resulting from the industrial process. With the expansion in production capacity, the industrial unit will generate and consume its own energy and have an additional surplus power of 130 MWH, which will contribute to Brazil’s energy balance and benefit the country’s energy profile with more renewable sources.
Fibria about the development of forest
Fibria also has been investing in developing its forest base in the region to supply the new production line. The wood supply required to operate its new mill will come from forests grown in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. A total of 187,000 hectares of forests planted on owned, leased and partners’ areas will be required. With the 120,000 hectares used to supply the current mill, the forest base to supply the Três Lagoas Unit reaches 307,000 hectares. The average distance from the forests to the company’s two production lines will be up to 100 kilometers, which is one of the most competitive in the industry. In May 2016, Fibria announced the expansion of the pulp production capacity at Horizonte 2 Project from 1.75 million tons/year to 1.95 million tons/year.
“It´s important to reinforce that all the resources needed for the new production line have already been formally contracted and secured,” said Fibria’s Chief Financial and Investor Relations Officer, Guilherme Cavalcanti.
With the new line’s contribution to the current mill, the Três Lagoas Unit will expand its pulp production capacity by 150% to 3.25 million tons/year, further consolidating Fibria’s leadership and competitiveness in the global hardwood pulp industry.
