Papel Misionero outlines plans

Papel Misionero has drawn up a $196 million investment program for its mill near Puerto Mineral, in the Misiones region of northeast Argentina. The scheme includes a new PM, a new boiler and an upgrade of the plant’s existing machine.

PM 1 will be modernized in October next year at a cost of $14 million. The overhaul will raise the unit’s capacity from 90,000 tonnes/yr to 120,000 tonnes/yr. The machine currently manufactures 60,000 tonnes/yr of kraftliner and 30,000 tonnes/yr of sack kraft paper. Following the rebuild, the firm plans to produce 90,000 tonnes/yr of kraftliner and 30,000 tonnes/yr of sack kraft paper.

Papel Misionero also intends to install a new boiler at the mill in October 2005 to make the plant self-sufficient in energy. The $12 million investment will allow the company to switch from using fuel oil to wood. Suppliers for both projects are expected to be chosen by the end of the year.

Once the first stage is wrapped up, Papel Misionero will turn its attention to the installation of a new machine. The unit, PM 2, is slated to start up between 2008 and 2010, and will manufacture 200,000 tonnes/yr of kraftliner. The investment will cost an estimated $170 million. Once the machine is up and running, the company plans to devote the site’s PM 1 exclusively to sack kraft production.

The Argentinean paper producer, Zucamor, and the financial firm, Bemberg Inversiones, each own 48% of Papel Misionero. The remaining 4% is held by small shareholders, mostly local sawmill owners.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 8:09 pm and is filed under kraft liner news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.