The Chilean forestry company Arauco subscribed this wednesday un investment agreement with the government of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil for the future construction of a pulp milllocated in the municipality of Inocencia, 337 kilometers from Campo Grande, capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.
The Chilean company is one of the owners, together with Stora Enso, of the pulp mill in Montes del Plata in Colonia.
As reported by the company linked to the Angelini group through a statement, the project —which involves an investment of US$ 3,000 million— will have the capacity to produce 2.5 million tons/year of short fiber pulp.
After the approval of the environmental license, the evaluation of the wood supply and the confirmation of the investment by the company’s board of directors, Works are expected to start in 2025 and the factory will start operations in the first quarter of 2028.
According to the firm’s estimates, during the construction phase, more than 12,000 workers would be hired, benefiting nearly 20,000 families in the region. Also, once the project is completed, the initiative would provide permanent employment to 2,350 workers. Of the latter, 550 will form part of the industrial plant, between direct and indirect, and 1,800 people in the forestry area.
Pole for global strategy
According to the letter, at the ceremony, the executive vice president of Arauco, Matías Domeyko, assured that Brazil is an important pole for the company’s global strategy. Along these lines, he specified that they have had a presence in that country since 2002.with industrial facilities for wood and forestry operations, and now “we are evaluating increasing our investments in Brazil, entering the pulp business.”
“We are very excited about this possible expansion of Arauco’s activities to Mato Grosso do Sul, a very important region for the industry, with great potential for eucalyptus plantations and excellent logistical options for the flow of production,” he added.
Meanwhile, Carlos Altimiras, president of Arauco Brazil, explained that the Sucuriú project is in line with the ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) policy, which is part of the company’s DNA. “The complex is also in line with the vision and values of the company, which has as its essence the mission of contributing to improving people’s lives, developing forest products for the challenges of a sustainable world,” he said.
The executive also assured that “the sustainable development of forest reserves represents a concrete contribution to an economy based on the consumption of goods and services derived from the sustainable transformation of natural resources.”
world reference
Meanwhile, the governor of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Reinaldo Azambuja, commented that they will receive one of the largest pulp mills in the world in the state. “It will be a modern unit that will generate jobs, opportunities, income and social development in a region which is also part of the Eastern Forest Coast, but which did not have any enterprise of this type”, he highlighted.
He also added that “the arrival of this plant demonstrates the confidence of investors in Mato Grosso do Sul, in our policy of tax incentives, in the legal certainty of those who invest and in the logistics structure that we are creating for those who need to sell their production. ”. He added that “to guarantee the supply of wood to the enterprise, more than 500 thousand hectares of planted forests are being incorporated. It is the maturity of the forest production chain of Mato Grosso do Sul”.
Financial Newspaper of Chile-RIPE
