Uruguay has launched its third paper mill: it is the largest and most modern in the world

It was the year 2002 and Uruguay was sinking into a currency race, when a very trusted aide of President Jorge Batlle received an unexpected phone call. Carlos Faroppa was a prestigious forest engineer with specializations in Sweden and Finland. He told him that the Finnish firm Bothnia was interested in expanding its pulp operations in Latin America. He has promised a million dollar investment. At that moment, in a country shaken by a dramatic financial crisis, Batlle sensed the possibility of a investment of US$ 1,500 million as a salvation. It was the largest in the history of the country.

The project took a few years between negotiations for an investment protection agreement and a special tax regime. Finally, in February 2005 the Uruguayan government signed the contract. The inaugural ceremony on March 1 was just days away, when Jorge Batlle would hand over command to his political opponent, President-elect Tabaré Vázquez, of the Broad Front.

In the middle there was a conflict with Argentina with the closure of the bridges which lasted until 2010. By the end of that fight, Uruguay already had a second paper mill. And the news is that it has already started managing its third paper mill e it will establish itself as the world’s leading per capita exporter of cellulosic pulp with foreign exchange income that will exceed the current $2.5 billion contributing meat exports, which drive shipments from the neighboring country.

Those of cellulosic pulp will now grow by 50% and they’ll be with $2.7 billion at the top. In 2005 Bothnia, now UPM, also landed from Finland. It employs 7,000 people and has 800 associated producers. He settled in Fray Bentos.

Montes del Plata is the second paper mill and was born in 2009 since Union of two leaders in the global forest sector: Arauco (Chile) and Stora Enso (Sweden-Finland). It was located in Conchillas, in the department of Colonia. The wood from the plantations distributed in 13 departments of the country is processed there. It employs 6,500 people.

The third plant that has been completed and that after several environmental tests has started to produce is located in Paso de los Toros, on the Negro River, in central Uruguay.

It employs 7,000 people and is the largest and most modern on the planet. It is made by UPM and represents a leap towards innovation and an opportunity for one of the forgotten areas of the country.

See what is already happening in the world that is the replacement of plastic products with cellulose. The investment is a record for the neighboring country: it arrives $3.470 million. It is designed on the basis of the best technologies available in terms of energy efficiency, respect for the environment, with water recirculation and minimal waste.

It will transfer 8% of the energy consumed daily to the country’s grid. It also implies a big infrastructural push: it requires the construction of a Railroad of 280 kilometers from Paso de los Toros to Montevideowhich for now is “proudly slow”, as the Uruguayans themselves say, although it is already 90% advanced.

What is about to happen is the specialized cellulose terminal in the port of Montevideo. To feed these plants, not only plantations are needed, but also a system based on genetics, production efficiency and logistics.

Knowledge was developed in specialization, harvesting and transport which was inspired by Sweden and Finland. Uruguay is considered today in the technological frontier. In these camps there are no longer chainsaws, but men and women highly trained to master large and complex computerized equipment with air conditioning in the cabins.

The nurseries are a model for other forest countries. Together, the paper mills generate energy from biomass and today supply 23% of what is consumed by a country where 100% of its energy is already renewable.

The official inauguration will soon take place and it will be up to President Luis Lacalle Pou, of the National Party, to inaugurate the Paso de los Toros factory, just as Tabaré Vázquez, of the Fronte Largo, launched the previous ones in what is another reflection of the state policy. Argentina watches him from across the river.