Valmet and Suzano – a successful journey together
Apr 24, 2024
In 2011, Valmet was selected to supply the main technology for pulp production and recovery at Suzano’s mega mill project near the city of Imperatriz in the north of Brazil. In 2013, the mill was completed, and the first bales were produced. Today, we celebrate a decade of continuing successful collaboration.
This is truly a time for celebrations, as Valmet and Suzano are celebrating ten years of successful collaboration since the Imperatriz mill was built. At the same time, Suzano is celebrating 100 years as one of Brazil’s largest paper and pulp industry companies. As a global leader in supply and development of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industry, Valmet is an important technical partner in many innovation and sustainability projects. So it is in the DNA of both companies to leave their comfort zone and come up with innovative solutions.
At Suzano, we know we can do more with Valmet to achieve our long-term goals.
Agreeing on common rules and values is fundamental to a sustainable long-term partnership, and the cooperation between Valmet and Suzano has resulted in the development of new technologies and businesses over the years. For example, at Suzano’s Limeira mill, the digester rebuild provided important information for the development of Valmet’s new generation cooking plant.
In addition to process technology, Valmet delivered a compete automation solution for the Imperatriz mill.
Suzano Imperatriz: building a global benchmark together
Suzano’s greenfield project in Imperatriz, Maranhão, was a great achievement. Valmet delivered the complete mill, including wood preparation with three high-capacity chipping lines, a cooking system and a fiber line, two pulp drying lines and five baling lines, a white liquor plant, an evaporation plant, and recovery and power boilers. The construction and erection of the delivered equipment and the automation system for the entire mill were included. Over the last decade, Valmet has supported the mill with expert support for efficiency improvements, spare parts and maintenance services during annual shutdowns, for example.
The mill was originally designed for a production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year. The production has now increased to 1.74 million tonnes per year.
“It was a pioneering investment by Suzano in the region, resulting in economic growth and local development. We can say that the Imperatriz unit is a ‘Valmet mill’ that has become a global benchmark, in addition to being a reference for operational efficiency, low costs and high quality,” says Dimas Rodrigues, Director of Process and Equipment Engineering at Valmet in South America.
“The Imperatriz mill has become one of the most efficient pulp mills in the world and is designed to have an energy surplus. The operational costs are low compared to other market pulp mills in South America, and the operation is also very good environmentally. Ten years ago, we started with a production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year. Now we have increased production to 1.74 million tonnes per year with marginal investment,” says José W. Ventura, Suzano Executive Mill Manager for the Imperatriz Unit.
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“The Suzano Imperatriz mill was a pioneering investment in the region,” says Dimas Rodrigues, Director of Process and Equipment Engineering at Valmet in South America. |
“The Imperatriz mill has become one of the most efficient pulp mills in the world,” says José W. Ventura, Executive Mill Manager, Imperatriz Unit, MA, at Suzano. |
Making the most of remote services
It is also worth highlighting the 2020 annual shutdown at the Imperatriz mill, which featured several Valmet services and was one of the first of its kind, involving different types of remote support services during the Covid pandemic.
“Valmet’s experts from the Valmet Performance Center offered remote technical assistance, and the field services experts used Augmented Reality Glasses and drones,” Rodrigues adds.
There has been a special focus on the energy operational efficiency of the Imperatriz mill.
Close collaboration is key to achieving long-term goals
“At Suzano, we’re very pleased with our long-time partnership with Valmet. We know we can do more with Valmet to achieve our long-term goals for energy efficiency, water consumption, industrial waste and climate change. This means we must work even more closely, with more regular meetings, to find ways to strengthen our technical operation,” says Carlos Anibal Almeida, Executive Director, Forestry, Procurement and Logistics at Suzano.
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“Suzano has demonstrated their capacity and talent for developing sustainable and innovative products,” says Fernando Scucuglia, Business Director for Pulp and Energy at Valmet in South America. |
“At Suzano, we’re very pleased with our long-time partnership with Valmet,” says Carlos Anibal Almeida, Executive Director, Forestry, Procurement and Logistics at Suzano. |
A promising future
Fernando Scucuglia, Business Director for Pulp and Energy in the South American area at Valmet, reinforces the importance and relevance the partnership between the companies represents for a promising future:
“From a medium- and long-term perspective, there are many projects, initiatives and joint developments. Suzano has demonstrated their capacity and talent for developing sustainable and innovative products, and for utilizing raw materials from renewable sources like eucalyptus. In turn, Valmet’s mission is to convert renewable resources into sustainable results for our customers, so it’s natural that we’re becoming increasingly close partners in these developments.”
The Suzano Aracruz mill in Espírito Santo in the eastern coast line of Brazil.
Text Kerstin Eriksson PHOTOS Suzano / Márcio Schimming
First complete tissue line combined with converting equipment and a biomass boiler for Suzano Aracruz
At the beginning of the year, Valmet was chosen to supply its first complete tissue line combined with conversion equipment, in addition to a Biomass Boiler for Suzano Aracruz. The scope of the tissue line includes an Advantage DCT tissue line with an extensive automation package, flow control valves and Industrial Internet solutions. Globally, it is Valmet’s first combined order with Tissue Machine and Tissue Converting lines. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2025.
Cooperation since the 1990s
Suzano is always striving for innovations, and several partnerships have been formed with Valmet at various Suzano units over the years. Among other projects, the two companies have worked together in Mucuri, on line 1, in southern Bahia. The plant, which was delivered in the 1990s and is composed entirely of Valmet equipment, achieved a record performance in pulp and paper production in 2022. Other projects include Três Lagoas, Aracruz and Limeira, as well as the maintenance contract for flow control valves in Suzano’s latest investment in the Cerrado project.
