Navigator Selects Voith XcelLine Tissue Machine for Cacia in Portugal

The Navigator Co., Portugal, has continued its expansion in the tissue sector by signing a contract with Voith, Germany, for the supply of a new XcelLine tissue machine. The production line is designed to sustainably produce high-quality tissue paper, maximizing the usage of slush Eucalyptus pulp. The new tissue facility will be integrated in the existing Cacia site in Portugal, where the company operates one of the biggest pulp production plants in Europe. 

The scope of supply includes the latest Voith technologies to minimize energy consumption and achieve maximum efficiency in short fiber usage. Above all, the NipcoFlex T shoe press was a key factor in choosing Voith. With this technology, the need for thermal energy can be substantially reduced. The tissue machine is designed for an operating speed of 2,000 m/min. and will annually produce 70,000 metric tons of high-quality toilet and towel paper from pulp with a working width of 5,600 mm. Startup is scheduled for the second half of 2018. With this new investment, the total tissue production capacity of The Navigator Co. will increase to 130,000 metric tpy. 

The new tissue production line will be equipped with further energy-efficient, operator friendly components and systems, including the Pluralis refining technology, the MasterJet headbox, EvoDry T steel Yankee, and the EcoHood T. A core part of the delivery will be the Papermaking 4.0 features, including the innovative ComCore automation platform.

The Navigator Co. is one of Europe’s leading producers of pulp and paper. It has a total paper capacity of 1.6 million metric tpy, largely integrated with pulp production, and more than 3,000 employees. As part of its development plan for a new cycle of growth, the Navigator Co. in 2015 acquired an established tissue manufacturer—AMS-BR Star Paper, S.A. 

Navigator is the new face of the former Portucel Soporcel group, after its rebranding in 2016. The company is Portugal’s third leading exporter, and the exporter generating the highest level of national value added. The Group accounts for approximately 1% of Portugal's GDP, around 3% of the country's total exports of goods. In 2016, the company set a new all-time record for paper output, with an annual turnover of approximately EUR 1.6 billion.

Having consolidated its position as the leading European manufacturer, and the fourth largest in the world, of uncoated woodfree (UWF) printing and writing paper, The Navigator Co. is also Europe's top producer of BEKP (bleached eucalyptus globulus kraft pulp), the fifth largest in the world, and has entered the tissue market, where it expects to become one of key players on the continent. As a vertically integrated forestry company with its own forestry research institute RAIZ, it manages vast tracts of forest in Portugal certified under the FSC® and PEFC™ systems (FSC license C010852 and PEFC license 13-23-001), and boasts an annual production capacity for 1.6 million metric tpy of paper, 1.4 million metric tpy of pulp (of which 1.1 million metric tons is integrated into paper), and power generation of 2.5 TWh.