Portugal: Portucel Recicla mill set to flee rising waters
Although there is so far no fixed timetable for the privatisation of Portucel, the company said last week that it expects at least a partial privatisation of its Gescartao corrugated-packaging subsidiary by summer, possibly July, because it needs to move its Mourao mill to a new location before a new dam floods the existing site.However, as the relocation project also involves the building of a new paper machine, the company needs the approval of the future partner/sharegholder before it can go ahead with the move. But because the new dam being built on the Guadiana river is due for completion in late 2000, the existing Mourao mill must be closed by April 2000, with the new mill slated to start up in the first quarter of 2001. As a result, Portucel Recicla cannot wait for the full privatisation of Portucel if this new mill is to be built on time.The company plans to build a new 150,000-tpy paper machine about 4 km away from the existing mill, while the old 65,000-tpy PM is to be sold off, very possibly to a potential buyer in Mozambique, southeastern Africa. Current plans for the new machine involve a line to produce unbleached testliner and fluting, as well as white-top testliner, trimming at 5 m and running at up to 900 m/min initially. However, all options for the new mill are being kept open until the new shareholder can be consulted, Portucel explained.The company said it wasn't certain whether Gescartao would be 100% privatised, but predicted that the new shareholder would come from the same sector, and said that even if the newcomer only held a large minority, Recicla's management would pay very close attention to its opinions.(Papernews)