MINSK, 12 February (BelTA) – There are plans to start making bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP) in Belarus, BelTA learned from Yuri Nazarov, Chairman of the Belarusian timber, woodworking, pulp and paper industry concern Bellesbumprom, on 12 February.
The official said: “Starting the production of commercial-grade bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp is the most important project we are working on today. It is a less-expensive alternative to regular pulp. This raw material is used to make paper and cardboard. The enterprise will use up to 1.5 million m3 of wood. It will be designed to use aspen. We've selected a site in Novopolotsk. By the end of February we will run the project by a potential Austrian partner and will send our proposals to it. We hope we will get down to implementing the project this year.” The production of coated and uncoated cardboard varieties at the Dobrush-based paper mill Geroy Truda is another way to secure Bellesbumprom's growth.
Plans have been made to continue cooperation with the German company Polipol. Rented premises of OAO Ivatsevichdrev were used to launch the production of cushioned furniture in November 2018. As many as 105 jobs were created. About 30 people are being trained now. The investor is ready to continue cooperation and implement the project to build a new dedicated factory in a separate land plot in Ivatsevichi. The planned volume of investments exceeds €20 million, with the number of jobs up to 1,200. “I think 2019-2020 is the period for implementing this large project,” Yuri Nazarov stated.
In 2018 the Shklov-based newsprint mill, OAO Borisovski DOK, and a private Estonian company founded a new woodworking and pellet-manufacturing enterprise. The enterprise can process up to 60,000m3 of plank timber into commercial timber. Waste wood will be used to make 50,000 tonnes of fuel pellets per annum. Investments in the project are estimated at €8.6 million. The company intends to start making the merchandise in September 2019. The enterprise will create 84 jobs.
Plans have been made to start making wood granules (pellets) in the free economic zone (FEZ) Brest in 2019-2020. The output capacity of the new enterprise will be at least 120,000 tonnes per annum. As raw materials the enterprise will use low-quality coniferous and broadleaf wood harvested by Bellesbumprom enterprises and its own gray alder plantations. The enterprise will create 140 jobs. Investments are estimated at some €15 million.
“In 2019 we intend to increase the volume of wood processing up to roughly 7 million m3. The figure will grow even higher once all the investment projects are completed in years to come. We have spare resources and they represent the foundation for development of the processing industry,” Yuri Nazarov noted. “As far as sales are concerned, we will stay focused on developing the export potential and further penetrating the European market. In particular, we are putting consistent efforts into exporting more furniture to non-CIS states. Dealing with debt commitments will of course remain a key task for Bellesbumprom enterprises in 2019, too.”
This year Bellesbumprom enterprises are supposed to honor commitments to the central state budget and commercial banks to the tune of €232.4 million. “It is not an easy task, because we see that prices for sheet wood products are falling, but it is doable,” the Bellesbumprom head stressed.
