Klabin, São Paulo, Brazil, announced earlier this month the operational startup of PM 24, installed in the Goiana Plant, in Pernambuco, Brazil. With this new machine, the plant is tripling its recycled paper production, hiking capacity from 50,000 to 160,000 metric tpy. This new capacity, added to the increase of 15,000 tons with the rebuild of PM 21, in Piracicaba, will enable Klabin to reach a total production of 270,000 metric tpy of recycled paper in 2015.

"The Northeast region is showing consumption growth in sectors such as industrialized foods, fruits, and civil construction, where we hold the position of important packaging suppliers. Klabin is the market leader in all of the segments in which it operates and it is extremely important for our business to strengthen the company’s presence in this region," pointed out Fabio Schvartsman, CEO of Klabin.

During this cycle of investments in packaging paper, Klabin has made a number of expansions in production capacity since 2013. In November 2013, it inaugurated PM 23 for production of 80,000 metric tpy of sack kraft, at the Correia Pinto Plant. Last year, the company concluded an expansion of PM 9 at the Monte Alegre Plant to boost its production of cartonboard by 50,000 metric tpy and added 35,000 metric tpy of kraft paper to the production of PM 14 in Angatuba. With these, Klabin will achieve a production capacity of 2 million metric tpy of paper in 2015.

To complete this cycle, construction work proceeds at a fast pace on the new Ortigueira Mill (Puma Project), which should come on-stream at the beginning of 2016 and will raise Klabin’s capacity from 2 million metric tpy of paper to 3.5 million metric tpy of pulp and paper. As a result, the company will have doubled its production capacity in the period between 2013 and 2016.

Klabin, one of Brazil’s larger paper manufacturers and exporters, is a producer of packaging paper and board, corrugated boxes, industrial sacks, and timber in logs. Founded in 1899, it currently owns 14 industrial plants in Brazil and one in Argentina. It is organized in three business units: Forestry, Paper (cartonboard, kraft, and recycled paper), and Converting (corrugated boxes and industrial sacks).