Andritz has received a follow-up order from Brazilian pulp and paper producer Suzano for a major conversion project at the Limeira pulp mill. The project will enable Suzano to increase its eucalyptus-based fluff pulp production capacity from 100,000 to 440,000 tons per year to meet the growing global demand for personal hygiene products. Suzano is the only company in the world producing fluff pulp from hardwood – based on ANDRITZ technology.
Andritz will convert a pulp drying line for bleached hardwood kraft pulp (BHKP) into a line that can switch between BHKP and Suzano’s Eucafluff® pulp. With this project, Suzano continues to expand its highly successful Eucafluff business, which began eight years ago when ANDRITZ converted one of the company’s paper machines to produce fluff pulp from eucalyptus. This was the first time fluff pulp was produced from hardwood, and the rebuilt machine has been running at full capacity ever since. The Eucafluff brand is now well known in the hygiene market as an innovative and sustainable solution. It is approved for use in disposable care products that meet the strict criteria of the EU Ecolabel and the Nordic Swan label for high environmental standards throughout the life cycle of a product.
“The ANDRITZ solution allows us to expand our fluff pulp capacity using our existing production line. This meets our needs in terms of production capacity, cost efficiency, and sustainability,” said Jean Moraes, Suzano’s Corporate Engineering Executive. “After the great partnership with ANDRITZ in our previous pioneering conversion project, we again chose ANDRITZ as a partner for our next major investment in fluff pulp production.”
Leonardo de Figueiredo, Sales Director for Pulp Drying at ANDRITZ, emphasized, “We will take care of the entire engineering, procurement, and construction process to transform an existing machine for flexible switching between fluff and market pulp grades. Having completed many projects in the past at several Suzano mills, we are very proud that Suzano has once again placed its trust in us.”
The equipment to be supplied includes a new state-of-the-art headbox, an extension of the former, a PrimeCal Hard hard-nip calender, a PrimeReel, two winders, a new roll wrapping and handling line, and a core feeding system. Production on the converted machine is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2025.