Portucel Soporcel

From Wikicompany

The Portucel Soporcel Group is a Portuguese pulp and paper manufacturing company.

The company is one of the five largest European producers of uncoated woodfree paper, and is the result from the merger of Portucel and Soporcel.

The company produces the premium office paper product Navigator.

Production

The Group's production structure is based at three Mills, situated at Setúbal, Figueira da Foz and Cacia. These large-scale production units are equipped with the most up-to-date technology and are a benchmark for quality within the sector.

The company has a productive capacity that exceeds 1 million tonnes of paper and 1.3 million tonnes of pulp, with 138 thousand hectares of forest and an annual turnover of over of 1,000 million euros.

The Portucel Soporcel Group stands out for its use of eucalyptus as the prime raw material for the production of pulp and fine printing and writing paper of superior quality aimed at meeting the demanding European market.

Portucel Soporcel Group is the biggest forestry owner in Portugal. Due to this condition, it is a well known wine, honey, seeds and specific tree (besides eucalyptus) producer. The company also has a well equiped private firemen department to prevent fires.

History

Portucel

Portucel began operations at the Cacia mill in 1953 producing raw pine pulp, and became a pioneer worldwide in 1957 when it introduced sulphate bleached eucalyptus pulp, at the kraft process, into its production.

Seven years later, at the Setúbal mill, Inapa began its operations in a production unit integrated with Portucel, transforming pulp into paper that was sold throughout Europe.

Portucel bought Papéis Inapa in 2000, thus creating a strategic partnership of great importance in initiating the of restructuring process of the pulp and the paper sector in Portugal.

Soporcel

Although it began operations in 1984 with the inauguration of the mill at Figueira da Foz, Soporcel had been constituted five years earlier. The first paper machine (PM I) began working in the year 1991 and currently has a capacity of 350,000 tonnes/year.

The installation of the second paper machine (PM II – 425,000 tonnes/year), representing the most advanced technology in the sector, reinforced the position held by the Figueira da Foz mill in the European segment of the uncoated woodfree paper market.

The success that the company has enjoyed from its beginnings is the result of the innovatory spirit in which it has addressed the market and the sale of its products.