APP plans the world’s biggest pulp mill, in Sumatra

Aida Greenbury, managing director of sustainability at APP, July 2010: “There are no out of control expansion plans of our pulp production.”

RISI, February 2012: “We have been able to confirm with reliable sources that Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) is actively developing a large BHK market pulp mill to be located in south Sumatra. Details are not finalized, but the mill is expected to have a nominal capacity of between 1.5 and 2.0 million tonnes per year of BHK, making it the largest single pulp line in the world. APP has been doing extensive planting in the south Sumatra area for some years now, and there is a considerable amount of wood reaching maturity. It is not expected that there will be paper machines installed at the site. We believe that APP has been in discussions with equipment suppliers, but no further details are available. Startup for the mill is being targeted for 2015-16.”

Environment groups welcome Gunns’ frank assessment on native forests

The long running saga of Gunns‘ proposed pulp mill continues. Yesterday, the company’s new chief executive, Greg L’Estrange, announced that Gunns would stop logging native forests:

“This may well mean transitioning to plantations. But move we must for the conflict must end for too many people have been financially and emotionally injured in the Australian forest wars.

The announcement that Gunns will stop logging native forests is good news, welcomed by the Wilderness Society, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Environment Tasmania (see press release, below). But this does not mean a stop to the plans for a new pulp mill. And a vast area of industrial tree plantations feeding a polluting pulp mill is not good news. In 2009, Gunns took over eight Great Southern plantation schemes in Victoria and South Australia after Great Southern went bust.

Pulping the South

There are many reasons why the pulp industry is moving South. “Were it not for labour unions at home, we would be moving all of our production capacity to countries like Brazil,” a Stora Enso official told the Financial Times in 2005. I discussed this issue in a report I wrote a couple of years ago: “Plantations, Poverty and Power“.

One of the reasons is that fast-growing tree plantations in Brazil are precisely that: fast-growing. Recently, a colleague sent me the chart below, which illustrates the point very well. It compares the area of plantations needed to provide enough raw material to produce one million tonnes of pulp a year in Scandinavia, Portugal and Brazil:

Source: Sergio Schlesinger presentation at FASE workshop on climate change, energy and agrobusiness in Brazil, April 2010, based on information from Pöyry.

Nordea Backs Away From Gunns’ Pulp Mill

Well, that was quick…. Two days of email and tweets later, and Nordea is at least distancing itself from Gunns. But the statement that “Nordea has not made any decision or commitment to finance the project in Tasmania,” is not that same as “Nordea will not finance Gunns.” Still, good news that Nordea is at least looking nervous. Here’s a press release from the Wilderness Society and Avaaz:

Tell Nordea to say no to Gunns

Avaaz.org is running a campaign to urge Nordea Bank not to finance Gunns Pulp Mill in Tasmania. Please send an email via the Avaaz website – but please re-write the suggested email. Nordea should have nothing to do with Gunns. Suggesting that Nordea might fund a Gunns’ pulp mill that is 100% based on plantation timber is not a good idea…. Below the video (from the Avaaz website) is the email I sent to Nordea. While the Gunns project staggers from one controversy to another, as the Wilderness Society points out “we’re not out of the woods yet“.

New pulp line at Bai Bang, Vietnam

Pöyry has won a contract from the Vietnam Paper Corporation for a new 250,000 tons a year pulp line at the Bai Bang pulp and paper mill in Vietnam. The contract is for engineering and implementation services and the new pulp line is part of the second phase expansion project at Bai Bang. The new pulp line is due to start operations in 2010.

Suzano’s expansion plans

In July 2008, Brazil’s Suzano announced that it plans to invest US$6.6 billion to expand its operations over the next seven years:

New pulp mill planned for Venezuela

According to an article on RISI’s website by Justin Tolland, Contributing Editor, Pulp and Paper International magazine:

“Venezuela is planning to invest more than $800 million in a new state-owned pulp and newsprint mill with the aim of replacing imports from USA and Canada.”

Aracruz starts building new pulp mill

Aracruz Celulose has started construction of a new 1.3 million tonnes per year pulp mill in Guaíba, in Rio Grande do Sul. Aracruz’s operations at Guaíba currently produce 500,000 tonnes per year. The project will include an increase in the area of industrial tree plantations to provide raw material for the pulp, which will be shipped to Asia.

Portucel plans new pulp mills in Uruguay and Mozambique

Last week, Portucel announced that it had signed memorandums of agreement to build pulp mills with the governments of Uruguay and Mozambique. In Uruguay, Portucel plans a 1.3 million tons a year pulp mill, followed by a paper plant. In Mozambique, Portucel plans a 1 million tons a year pulp mill.