International technology Group Andritz has received an order from the Ilim Group to supply a wood processing plant with two debarking and chipping lines, chip and bark handling equipment, and a SmartWoodyard advanced control system to the Koryazhma mill in the Arkhangelsk region, Russia. Start-up is scheduled for mid-2021.

The new woodyard will replace existing woodroom and chip storage facilities, which have a pneumatic conveying system. The technology supplied by Andritz will substantially contribute towards reducing emissions and operating costs, resulting in environmentally friendly, high-quality chip production and considerable savings in raw material.

The Andritz scope of supply includes new debarking and chipping lines with: unique de-icing process for logs in the debarking drums; horizontally fed HHQ-Chipper; two HQ-Press bark presses; chip and bark handling equipment, including chip storage; SmartWoodyard advanced control system, including Decision Support Wall (DSW) and process optimization system with smart sensors like WoodScan, BarkScan, ChipperEKG, CrusherEKG, and ScanChip wood chip analyzer.

The Ilim Group leads the Russian pulp and paper industry in terms of market share, production, and investment, as well as being one of the world’s leading players in this industry. The largest pulp and paper company in the world, International Paper, is a strategic partner of the Ilim Group. Over the past few years, the Ilim Group has invested 3.2 billion US dollars in the development of its own enterprises, which is unprecedented for the Russian pulp and paper market. In the next five years, the company plans to invest another 3.6 billion US dollars in the modernization of facilities and the launch of new capacities. Implementation of the investment program will allow the group to increase the volume of production by one million tons. As a result, the Ilim Group will retain its leadership position and produce 4.4 million tons of final products per year by 2023 (in 2018, the company produced 3.4 million tons).

The Ilim Group’s production facilities are located in the Arkhangelsk, Irkutsk, Leningrad, and Moscow regions. The Ilim Group exports its products to more than 70 countries. The key market is the export market, and the main partners are Asian countries (especially China, with 40% of the exports).