Suzano will invest 1.56 bi R$ in plants of NE

Suzano Papel e Celulose will invest about 1.56 billion R$ in units of Mucuri (BA) and Empress (MA) to expand its production and to install two lines of production of coils used in the manufacture of toilet paper.
Of the total, R$ 1.14 billion will be invested in expanding the capacity of the factories. The project includes the modernisation of older machines in the Bahia plant and increased productivity in all areas of the line in the State of Maranhão. According to the President of the company, Walter Schalka, when improvements are completed in 2018, Suzano will need the capacity increased to 4.7 million tons of pulp annually to 5.1 million.
The resources will be contributed in the company's forest bases, to expand and to bring the forest units, which will need an additional supply of wood to produce more cellulose. The investments will be diluted, being R$ 510 million in 2016, and 2017 R$ R$ 585 in 45 million in 2018.
According to Schalka, a part of the additional production of pulp is used to supply the new lines of manufacture of toilet paper rolls that will be installed at the end of 2017. The units will cost the company R$ 425 million and will have capacity to produce 60 million tons of tissue for the production of toilet paper two-ply or 70 thousand in the case the product is intended for single sheet.
"This new line will guarantee structural competitiveness for the manufacturing of tissue paper in the Northeast," said the Executive yesterday at a news conference. "The sanitary paper market grows 5 percent a year in Brazil and the region grows more, because per capita consumption there is still much smaller than the rest of the country."
The strategy, according to the company, is to act as a partner of major producers of toilet segment, providing the jumbos that are converted to the final product. Schalka pointed out that Suzano does not rule out the possibility of acting in the production of toilet paper ready, but said that the decision will depend on negotiations with the partners.
Half of the investment will be paid to the company's equity and the other 50% will be collected in funding by the National Bank of economic and Social Development (BNDES) or with international agencies.
The President assured that the other company's recent projects, including the new production line of fluff and lignin extraction unit are on-time and on-budget.
Third quarter
Suzano announced yesterday its results for the third quarter of 2015, in which registered a growth of nearly 51% in net revenues compared to the same months of the previous year. The company's earnings totaled 2.98 billion R$ in the period, driven by the positive impact of the devaluation of the Brazilian real on the revenue from exported products and the higher price of pulp in Brazil and abroad.
The sales volume of the company's pulp increased 3.3% compared to the previous year, while the marketing of paper retreated 1.5 percent. China was the country where the largest growth, while the Brazilian market has again disappointed. In the end, the Suzano recorded a net loss of 959 million R$, impacted by the Exchange variation on his debt in dollars.