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Technical Theme: Pulp TT
BRAZILIAN EUCALYPTUS AND PINE PLANTED WOOD PRODUCTION: “THE INNOVATION DRIVERS OF BRAZILIAN PULP INDUSTRY”
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Marco Martins Customer Technical Service Manager, Klabin
Rodrigo Fantini Customer Technical Service Specialist, Klabin
oday, discussions about carbon footprint, renewable, recycling, nonwood fibre alternatives (such as straws, bagasse, bamboo, reeds and grasses), water consumption, etc, could be considered market drivers to reinforce the business models that have been developed and implemented by Brazilian pulp producers for over forty years. The Brazilian pulp and paper industry has been offering a pulp product that has in mind the importance of tissue-maker quality and performance perception (optimisation in bulk, softness and tensile strength), cost competitiveness, frontedge of forest and production technology, with an intense work and continuous investment covering all governance matters, in particular environmental and social issues (ESG). There is room for all kind of pulps (from non-wood to recycled) in the tissue paper fibre furnish composition, but it is essential to have in mind the sustainable principles and concept of global environmental demands. That is the reason for the historic success of eucalyptus and, more recently, pine pulps produced in Brazil.
Introduction In the early 70's, Borregaard formerly open the international pulp markets to the eucalyptus wood planted on Brazilian soil. Historically, this raw material was developed and well known for its pulp characteristics by domestic producer Suzano at least twenty years earlier. Companies, such as Klabin/Riocell/ Bacell, Aracruz, Suzano, Jari, VCP, Lwarcel, and Cenibra, were responsible for showing the benefits of this new fibre to the world’s paper industry. In the beginning of this marketing strategy, the technical expertise was focused on optimising the performance of eucalyptus pulp for the printing and writing segments. Technical agreements with global tissue manufacturers have mainly reinforced the advantage of tactile softness and the substitution of long fibre
in the tissue paper's fibre composition. Five decades later and we can see the use of Brazilian eucalyptus fibre spread across a wide range of paper segments, as well as in pulp derivatives. Eucalyptus pulps correspond to almost one third of all global market pulp, and is still growing significantly in Latin America. Figure 1 illustrates a comparison of market pulp capacity from 1990 to 2020 (Fastmarkets RISI, 2021). In line with this movement, it shows the eucalyptus expansion in Brazil, while Figure 2 shows the current Brazilian pulp production (IBÁ,2020 – Tree Brazilian Industry – Indústria Brasileira de Árvores).
Is there a business and technical formula for the global acceptance? There is. The answer could be represented by some strategic pillars, such as: innovation in tree breeding and forest management, Industry 4.0, R&D and product quality, ESG/sustainability, forest and products certifications, technical services and suppliers partnership. As a result, the papermaker has been receiving a very stable and homogeneous product on top of the agreed pulp quality properties.
Tree breeding and forest management Based on productivity and competitiveness, Brazilian pulp producers have been working on evaluating each eucalyptus species (grandis, urophylla, dunnii, saligna, etc) on their behaviour in soil and climate, pest resistance, fibre morphology, and many other wood characteristics. This long-term forest innovation process has as a base line the commitment to combine and align the eucalyptus wood properties with the best practices in forest management, industrial processes optimisation and paper application, which has resulted in clones responsible for improving more than double the productivity over the past 50 years, reaching figures closer to 50 m³/ha.year in Tissue World Magazine | September/October 2021
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Technical Theme : Pulp
By Marco Martins, Msc Science Forest and Chemical Engineering – Klabin’s Customer Technical Service Manager, and Rodrigo Fantini, Msc Industrial Engineering – Klabin’s Customer Technical Service Specialist.
