Klabin has announced the operational start-up of paper machine 24, installed in the Goiana Plant, in Pernambuco. With this new machine, the plant is tripling its recycled paper production, hiking capacity from 50,000 tons/year to 160,000 tons/year, the company said in a press release.

This new capacity, added to the increase of 15,000 tons with the rebuild of paper machine 21, in Piracicaba (SP), will enable Klabin to reach a total production of 270,000 tons/year of recycled paper in 2015.

"The Northeast region is showing consumption growth in sectors such as industrialized foods, fruits and civil construction, where we hold the position of important packaging suppliers. Klabin is the market leader in all the segments, in which it operates, and it is extremely important for our business to strengthen the company's presence in this region", points out Fabio Schvartsman, the CEO of Klabin.

During this cycle of investments in packaging paper, Klabin has made a number of expansions in production capacity since 2013. In November of 2013, it inaugurated Paper Machine 23 for production of 80 thousand tons/year of sack kraft, at the Correia Pinto Plant (SC). Last year the company concluded an expansion of paper machine 9, at the Monte Alegre Plant (PR), to boost its production of cartonboard by 50 thousand tons/year and added 35 thousand tons/year of kraft paper to the production of paper machine 14 in Angatuba (SP). With these, Klabin will achieve a production capacity of 2 million tons/year of paper in 2015.

To complete this cycle, construction works proceed at a fast pace on the new Ortigueira Mill (Puma Project), which should come on stream at the beginning of 2016 and will raise Klabin's capacity from 2 million tons/year of paper to 3.5 million tons/year of pulp and paper. As a result, the company will have doubled its production capacity in the period between 2013 and 2016.