Klabin Holds Inauguration Ceremony for Puma II in Paraná, Brazil

Sept. 26, 2023 - Klabin on Sept. 21 held an inauguration ceremony for its Puma II — a project that marked the expansion of the Puma Unit in Ortigueira, Paraná, Brazil.

According to Klabin, the Puma II project is the largest investment in the company's history and the largest private investment ever made in the State of Paraná. With an investment of R$12.9 billion, Klabin installed two new paper machines — MP27 and MP28 — which are both in operation and have a combined production capacity of 910 thousand tons per year of packaging paper grades.

The inauguration was attended by members of the board of directors, management and employees of Klabin, customers, suppliers, business partners, communities, press and authorities. The Governor of the State of Paraná, Ratinho Junior, and the Mayor of Ortigueira, Ary Mattos, as well as local authorities, attended the ceremony, which began with a guided tour of the new machines.

Puma II Project

Announced in 2019, the Puma II Project is part of Klabin's biggest growth cycle in its 124-year history. The first phase, completed in August 2021, included the construction and start-up of Paper Machine 27 (MP27), which manufactures the innovative Eukaliner®, the world's first kraftliner paper made 100% with eucalyptus fiber.

Two years later, in June this year, there was the startup of the Paper Machine 28 (MP28), the second of the Project, which focuses on the production of paperboard. The equipment also symbolizes Klabin's debut in the white paperboard market, reinforcing the expansion of its product portfolio.

Together, the two machines increase Klabin's annual production capacity to 4.7 million tons of paper and cellulose.

“Conceived more than ten years ago, with the construction of the Puma Unit, between 2013 and 2016, the completion of the Puma II Project marks a new decade of growth for Klabin,” said Francisco Razzolini, director of Industrial Technology, Innovation, Sustainability and Projects at Klabin. “We significantly increased our production capacity, entered new markets and employed cutting-edge technology to raise the quality of our products and boost the company's sustainable development.”

Regionally, the two phases of the Puma II Project generated more than 33 thousand direct and indirect jobs. In addition to encouraging partner companies to hire local workers, Klabin also valued labor by investing in technical training in the communities of Ortigueira and Telêmaco Borba, in Paraná.

Between 2013 and 2023, the Puma Unit received the largest investments in Klabin's history, adding 2.5 million tons per year to the company's total production volume.

Sustainable Production

For the Puma II, the company invested in a series of initiatives that use innovation as a sustainability lever, such as the biomass gasification plant project, which allows one of the factory's lime kilns to operate 100% fossil fuel-free, reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this sense, currently, 98% of the waste generated in the operation of Puma II is reused.

In another example, the innovative potassium sulfate plant treats ash generated in the recovery boiler that results in a substance used in the formulation of fertilizers.

Currently, the Puma II unit has 96% renewable fuels in its energy matrix. There is also a sludge drying plant, responsible for processing biological and tertiary sludge generated at the plant's effluent treatment stations. Klabin noted that with a capacity of up to 17 thousand tons/month, this will be the first system in the world to dry sludge generated in tertiary effluent treatment. The dry sludge can be mixed with biomass to become fuel for the power boilers.

Logistics in Paraná

In parallel to the development of the Puma II Project, Klabin set up a robust logistics operation in order to facilitate the flow of production for export. Next to the Ortigueira factory, a container terminal was built for road and rail transport with the capacity to transport 125 thousand tons of cellulose and paper in containers per month to the Port of Paranaguá in Paraná.

In addition, the company also began operations at the Klabin Port Terminal (PAR-01), located on the commercial pier of the Port of Paranaguá. With the capacity to receive one million tons of cellulose and paper per year, PAR-01 is part of the logistics investment package made by Klabin in the State in recent years. The operation consolidates Klabin's logistics strategy in Paraná, bringing even more competitiveness, flexibility and sustainability and guarantees excellent logistics between forest, factory and port.

With the completion of the second phase of Puma II, Klabin estimates it will move 2.2 million tons of paper and cellulose per year via Paranaguá.

SOURCE: Klabin