Klabin announced that the Board of Directors has approved the project to modernize the Monte Alegre unit in Paraná, the company’s oldest paperboard and kraftliner mill. The total estimated investment is R$1.66 billion, including around R$180 million in recoverable taxes, to be invested between 2024 and 2027. This amount was already included in the investment estimates published on December 20, 2023.
News continues after the announcement
The project involves the installation of a new recovery boiler with state-of-the-art technology and similar capacity to the current boiler, which will be discontinued. This equipment is essential for the operation of a pulp and paper mill, as it recovers the chemicals used in cooking the wood and produces steam from the processing of black liquor. The new boiler should start operating in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The R$1.66 billion investment also includes the modernization of the digital utilities control system, the odorous gas treatment system and support buildings.
Currently, Monte Alegre’s nominal annual production is 1,030,000 tons, 730,000 tons of which are paperboard and 300,000 tons of kraftliner. The recovery boiler has a capacity of 1,950 tons/day. According to information from Klabin, the project ensures the operational continuity of Monte Alegre and reduces Opex, expected to be R$45 million/year, by reducing maintenance costs, electricity due to higher generation, lower loss of sodium sulphate, reduced biomass consumption and other factors.
Without this modernization, Monte Alegre would reduce its saleable production capacity by 40%, or approximately 400,000 tons.
The main objective of this modernization is to guarantee the operational continuity of the Monte Alegre unit, which is the largest producer of paperboard in Brazil. It is also expected to increase the unit’s efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability. Among the expected benefits is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, in line with Klabin’s sustainable development objectives (KODS).
Environmental benefits:
100-meter-high chimney for better air quality and better dispersion of emissions
Decommissioning of incinerators and reduction in LPG consumption¹, increasing the unit’s energy matrix from renewable sources from 91.9
from 91.9% to an estimated 93.2% and reducing GHG² emissions by 16.7 thousand
tCO2eq/year
More efficient odor control by burning GNCD³ and GNCC4 in the boiler itself, instead of the current
incinerator
Better use of natural resources due to reduced consumption/purchase of biomass as a result of the greater
efficiency of the new boiler
Reduced noise emissions, as the new recovery boiler will have silencers designed for
maximum emission of 85 dB at boiler floor zero
Note: 1 – Liquefied petroleum gas; 2 – Greenhouse gases; 3 – Diluted non-condensable gases; 4 – Concentrated non-condensable gases