SEGEZHA, Russia–Segezha Group, a pulp and paper group (part of JSFC Sistema), has presented design documentation for a new biotechnological complex in Siberia. The project is an up-to-date high-tech manufacturing facility with a single (switching) pulp line with an annual capacity of 0.7 mln tons of bleached softwood and/or hardwood sulfate pulp.
The concept of the new plant to be designed at the industrial site of the Lesosibirsky LDK No. 1 operating within Segezha Group is based on using 100% wood raw material and arranging by-product operational flows for pulp production and a wide range of other bioproducts as substitutes of fossil materials and fuel. The company plans to invest about 100 bln rubles in pulp and paper production. More than 460 new workplaces are expected to be created in the region.
Construction of the biotechnological complex will take 3 years. The project start will be worked out considering time required to undergo a state examination and to obtain licenses. In 2019–2020 Segezha Group is supposed to pass several procedures: environmental impact assessment procedure, approval of projects for a sanitary protection zone, approval of facility deployment by the Federal Agency for Fishery, State Environmental Expertise, Main State Expert Review Board, and obtaining a construction permit.
“We are moving along this path actively. This year we plan to undergo all certifications,” said Mikhail Shamolin, president of Segezha Group.
Target sales markets of future products are countries in Southeast Asia, including China, where a deficit of pine tree fibers exists. For the record, the global market for bleached softwood pulp is growing (CAGR consumption until 2030 is 1.7%).