The largest investment in Klabin’s history, Puma II consolidates the company’s position as one of the world’s leading packaging paper producers.
  
Paraná, September 21, 2023 – Klabin, Brazil’s largest producer and exporter of packaging paper and sustainable solutions in paper packaging, held on September 21 the inauguration ceremony for Puma II, the project that marked the expansion of its Puma Unit in Ortigueira, Paraná. This is the largest investment in the Company’s history and the biggest ever private investment in the state of Paraná. With R$12.9 billion invested in the installation of two new paper machines - MP27 and MP28 - both operational and with total annual production capacity of 910,000 tons of paper, Puma II reinforces Klabin’s integrated, diversified and flexible business model.
 
Announced in 2019, the Puma II Project is part of Klabin’s largest growth cycle in its 124-year history. The first phase, concluded in August 2021, included the construction and startup of Paper Machine 27 (MP27), which produces the innovative Eukaliner®, the world’s first kraftliner paper 100% made from eucalyptus fiber. Two years later, in June 2023, Paper Machine 28 (MP28), the second paper machine of the Project that produces paperboard, went operational, consolidating Klabin’s position as one of the global leaders in the segment. The machine also marks Klabin’s debut in the white paperboard market, reinforcing the expansion of its product portfolio. Together, both machines increase Klabin’s annual production capacity to 4.7 million tons of pulp and paper. 
 
“The Puma II Project was conceived over 10 years ago, with the construction of the Puma Unit between 2013 and 2016, and its conclusion marks a new decade of growth for Klabin. We significantly increased our production capacity, entered new markets and employed cutting-edge technology to improve the quality of our products and drive the Company’s sustainable development,” said Francisco Razzolini, director of Industrial Technology, Innovation, Sustainability and Projects at Klabin.  
 
The two phases of the Puma II Project created over 33,000 direct and indirect jobs in the region. Besides encouraging partner companies to hire local workers, Klabin also added value to the local labor pool by investing in technical training in the communities of Ortigueira and Telêmaco Borba, in Paraná. 
 
Differentials of the Ortigueira industrial complex 
Between 2013 and 2023, the Puma Unit received the highest investments in Klabin’s history, adding 2.5 million tons to the Company’s total annual production volume. For Puma II, the company invested in a series of initiatives that use innovation as the driver of sustainability, such as the Biomass Gasification Plant project, which enables one of the mill’s lime kilns to operate 100% fossil fuel-free, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.  In this regard, currently 98% of the waste generated by Puma II operations is reused. Another successful example is the innovative potassium sulfate plant. Potassium sulfate, which is used in fertilizer production, is obtained by treating the ash generated in the recovery boiler. This pioneering process in the market will make Klabin self-sufficient in potassium sulfate.
  
To reuse waste, Klabin has important initiatives in place, such as the plant to produce sulfuric acid from industrial waste, making the Puma Unit self-sufficient in the input, and the initiative to use tall oil, obtained from resins extracted after the cooking of pine, as biofuel in lime kilns.  The unit currently uses 96% of renewable fuels in its energy matrix.  Klabin also has a sludge drying plant to process the biological and tertiary sludge generated at the plant’s wastewater treatment stations. This is the world’s first system to dry sludge generated by tertiary treatment of wastewater, with monthly capacity of up to 17,000 tons. Dry sludge mixed with biomass can become a biofuel for power boilers.
 
Puma II, which strengthens the integration of Klabin's production chain, was designed to become a global benchmark in sustainability, technology and innovation, and is aligned with Industry 4.0 principles. Moreover, diverse initiatives foster circularity in production processes, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda and Klabin’s Sustainable Development Goals (KODS), whose commitments include maximum optimization of resources and the reintroduction of waste in production systems.  
 
“Puma II represents a significant advance for the pulp and paper industry, which seeks increasingly sustainable, circular and efficient processes. We are proud to officially inaugurate this Complex after the expansion phase. It is the result of our commitment to making the world a better place, based on the potential of the renewable packaging market and the efforts of our employees, clients and suppliers, and has transformed the entire region through income generation, job opportunities and social development,” said Razzolini.   
 
Logistics in Paraná
In tandem with the implementation of the Puma II Project, Klabin put together a robust logistics operation to facilitate the shipment of its production for export. A Container Terminal was built beside the Ortigueira mill for road and rail transportation, with capacity to transport 125,000 tons of pulp and paper in containers per month to the Port of Paranaguá, Paraná. The Company also started operating the Klabin Port Terminal (PAR-01), located in the commercial quay of the Port of Paranaguá. With annual capacity to receive one million tons of pulp and paper, PAR-01 is part of the Company’s logistics investment package for the state in recent years. The operation consolidates Klabin’s logistics strategy in Paraná, further increasing its competitiveness, flexibility and sustainability, while guaranteeing excellent logistics between forest, mill and port. With the conclusion of the second phase of Puma II, Klabin expects to ship 2.2 million tons of pulp and paper a year through Paranaguá.
 
Event
The event, held on the date when Arbor Day is celebrated in Brazil, was attended by the board of directors, executive officers, and employees of Klabin, as well as clients, suppliers, business partners, members of the community and media, and authorities. The governor of Paraná, Ratinho Junior, and the mayor of Ortigueira, Ary Mattos, as well as other local authorities, also attended the ceremony, which began with a guided tour of the new paper machines.  

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