Salvador, Brazil, South America 02 Jan 2014 − Brazil's pulp and paper company Suzano kicks off production at the Maranhão pulp unit near the city of Imperatriz. The new mill adds 1.5 million tpy to wolrdwide BEK pulp capacity.

Suzano Papel e Celulose has commenced bleached eucalyptus kraft (BEK) pulp production at the Maranhão pulp mill in Brazil. According to Suzano, the first bale of pulp was produced on 30 December.

Maranhão BEK pulp mill has an installed capacity of 1.5 million tpy. Suzano expects pulp production in 2014 to reach 1.1 million t. In addition to eucalyptus pulp, Maranhão mill will also be producing 100 MW of surplus electricity, which is to be sold to the power grid, the company says.

The total investment cost for the Maranhão pulp mill and related forests reportedly amounted to $2.9bn.