MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay: global pulp company presents strategic project

Sweden-Finland's Stora Enso paper, pulp and wood giant which, has plans to establish a plant in Uruguay has formally presented a strategic environment assessment plan as part of its forestry exploitation project.

The project according to the corporation has several objectives which contemplate "environmentally sustainable" factors in the framework of an "environment development" project and the identification of "risk factors", and the necessary measures to avoid them of counter them, according to press reports in Montevideo. If the project finally goes ahead it will be the third or possibly fourth major pulp and forestry undertaking in Uruguay. The first was Finland's Botnia, already in production and also the epicentre of a political dispute with Argentina. The second is Spain's Ence along the River Plate, currently under construction which will also include harbour facilities. The investment is estimated in over a billion US dollars, which is a considerable figure given that Uruguay's GDP is estimated in 18 billion US dollars. A possible third plant is from Portugal, Portucel, which is part of an overall financial and political package deal with Lisbon authorities, and could also involve over a billion US dollars. Stora Enso's project was formally presented this week in Durazno, in the heart of Uruguay, next to the country's second most important water course, Río Negro. Stora Enso is an integrated paper, packaging and forest products company producing newsprint, magazine paper, fine paper, consumer board, industrial packaging and wood products, with sales totaling 11.8 billion Euros in 2007. The Group has some 36 000 employees in more than 40 countries on five continents. Stora Enso has an annual production capacity of 13.1 million tons of paper and board and 7.5 million cubic meters of sawn wood products. Stora Enso's shares are listed in Helsinki and Stockholm. "As Stora Enso moves into the future, the Group is focusing on expanding its operations in growth markets in China, Latin America and Russia", according to the corporation's site.