The global tissue industry has been beset in recent years by pulp market cost acceleration and fluctuation. With increasing signs that a more stable market has returned, TWM spoke to Leonardo Grimaldi, Executive Vice President of Pulp Commercial and Logistics, and Aires Galhardo, Executive Vice President of Pulp Operations, Engineering and Energy. Report by TWM Senior Editor Helen Morris.
In August, Suzano started production at its immense $4.3bn Cerrado Project in Ribas do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul state in mid-western Brazil – the world’s largest single pulp production line.
Its annual production capacity is 2.55m tonnes of eucalyptus pulp, increasing Suzano’s total annual production capacity by more than 20% to 13.5m tonnes. That amount, the company says, equates to approximately one third of the global hardwood pulp market, a figure which stood at 40.8m tonnes in 2023.
As eucalyptus sourced pulp continues to play an increasing role in the global market, particularly the bleached chemical pulp market, Suzano can point with confidence to a continuing trend as large regions across the world experience a rise in demand for tissue products, most significantly developing markets across Latin America and Asian.
Confident of Suzano’s ROI, Leonardo Grimaldi also makes a prediction which will be welcomed by the industry across the board: “This boost in pulp production will allow Suzano to provide greater volumes of market pulp to the toilet paper and kitchen towel markets.
“At Suzano, we recognise the growing demand for all types of fibre. To cater to this increasing demand and build on our position as a global supplier of pulp to non-integrated tissue, paper, and packaging producers, we believe that investment in our operations is essential. Our investment in the Cerrado Project, the world’s largest single pulp production line, represents a key part of our growth strategy and gives us an important edge in what are highly competitive markets.
“Customers from within these markets are also going to be the beneficiaries of the mill’s world-class logistics, which will ensure supply is delivered both quickly and reliably.”
The Ribas do Rio Pardo plant benefits from considerable geographical advantages: a tropical climate across large areas of the territory are occupied by pastures and forestry activities, with eucalyptus farms predominating.
“The structural distance from forest-to-mill is only 65 kilometres on average, reducing logging transportation times,” Grimaldi says. “We have invested in two shipping terminals at the Port of Santos and signed a partnership with a major shipyard which has already built 19 new vessels to service the increased output from the mill. This focus on creating and maintaining a highly efficient supply chain will further serve to keep costs down and ensure our pulp is the most cost-competitive in the market.”
The focus is firmly on the development of innovative products from renewable raw materials: “The new mill employs cutting edge technology which allows us to produce eucalyptus hardwood pulp with properties which are closer to that of other pulp grades. This will enable our customers to accelerate their fibre substitution strategies and ultimately improve their bottom line – when tissue producers increase the percentage of hardwood pulp in their furnish mix, they see improved profitability, as hardwood fibre is a more cost-competitive option to softwood.
“We also plan to explore the production of specific differentiated pulp grades at the new mill, which will provide our customers with enhanced fibres capable of boosting the strength of their tissue-based products. This includes our “Eucastrong” product, which has been specially designed to deliver high tensile and superior physical properties compared to regular fibres.”
Aires Galhardo describes the transition to a low-carbon economy throughout Suzano’s operations as being driven by a relentless focus on maximising energy efficiency and renewable energy generation. That transition accounted for 88% of Suzano’s total energy consumption in 2023.
He explains the technology behind the transition: “We have invested significantly in technologies and processes which allow us to generate energy from biomass and “Black Liquor”, a by-product of the pulp production process. As a result, many of our plants today are self-sustaining, producing enough energy to meet their own demand, without the need for an external power supply.
“However, our new mill in Ribas do Rio Pardo signifies a new milestone in industrial and eco-efficiency. Coupled with reduced consumption of raw materials, chemicals and water, the mill will utilise biomass-derived gas as the primary fuel source for its lime kilns, instead of traditional fossil fuels – the first in Suzano’s operations to do so – allowing for a significant reduction in GHG emissions.”
The new mill has capacity to generate, in surplus, approximately 180 MW of green energy, which, Suzano says, is enough to power a city of more than two million inhabitants for a month, and will be among the most modern and sustainable in the world. This energy will be distributed both via the Brazilian grid and to chemical suppliers.
Suzano Biopulp’s portfolio continues to evolve in several ways: “Our “Eucanatural” and “Eucapack” products – made from semi-bleached and unbleached eucalyptus fibres respectively – address the growing demand for renewable packaging, offering customers a more sustainable option for their paper and packaging applications, while maintaining suitable structural properties, Galhardo adds.
“We are also exploring alternative solutions for our planted forests to address the performance drivers required by the dynamic pulp market, including the development of new technologies for both wood cooking and pulp bleaching and modification, to enhance efficiency and reduce our environmental footprint.”
Elsewhere, investments have been made in developing advanced hard and soft sensors and control systems, to be implemented at critical stages of the pulp production process: “These technologies will enable us to measure wood quality, monitor accurately the key performance indicators during the cooking and delignification stages, and conduct continuous digital analysis to best classify the final product. The higher volume of data provided by such tools and technologies will enhance not only the eco-efficiency of Suzano’s production processes, but also ensure greater quality, stability, and consistency in our products, for the benefit of the paper producer.
“Suzano is also advancing its capabilities and expertise in eucalyptus lifecycle analysis. This will help us to refine and enhance the planting, growing, and harvesting stages of the eucalyptus farming process, as well as understand more clearly the sustainability impacts of key processes – not just in Suzano’s operations, but across the entire tissue value chain. These insights will allow us to work more closely with our customers, to co-create superior pulp-based paper and packaging solutions.”
