Ilim Group Orders Technology for New Kraft Pulp Mill in Russia

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Ilim Group, St. Petersburg, Russia, a joint venture with International Paper, Memphis, Tenn., USA, has ordered the main technology for its new kraft pulp mill, to be built in Bratsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, from Metso, Finland. The value of the order is approximately EUR 180 million.

Metso's scope of supply will cover a complete fiber line including a digester, a screen room, an oxygen delignification system, brown stock washing and bleaching plants with wash presses, and a drying line with a fourdrinier wet end and two baling lines. Integral to the Bratsk reconstruction program are a new Metso recovery boiler and an upgrade of the evaporation plant. Metso will also deliver an automation system for all process areas, and necessary analyzers and special equipment for quality and runnability management. The new pulp mill is scheduled to startup during 2012.

The new pulp mill will produce 720,000 metric tpy of bleached softwood market pulp, bringing the overall annual pulp production at Bratsk to more than 1 million metric tons. When in operation, the Bratsk mill will be one of the world's largest and most modern softwood pulp production facilities. Ilim Group's overall investments in the project are about EUR 570 million (nearly $700 million).

The total annual pulp and paper production volume of Ilim Group is more than 2.3 million metric tons. The company employs more than 20,000 people.