Montes del Plata

Our industrial complex is located in Punta Pereira, near Conchillas, in the department of Colonia. It consists of a pulp mill, a power generating unit and a port terminal.

The pulp mill uses the Kraft process to produce 1,400,000 tonnes of bleached eucalyptus pulp per year, which is exported to Europe and Asia.

This plant, which began operation in 2014, applies the Best Available Techniques in the world according to the European reference standards (IPCC-BAT).

1,100 people work at Punta Pereira daily, 99% of they are Uruguayan and 80% come from the department of Colonia.

We export cellulose from the Punta Pereira Port Terminal, located in our industrial complex.   This terminal connects to the Martín García canal through an access canal that is 800 meters long x 200 meters wide.

With two docks, one for barges and another for oceanic vessels, it is possible to receive raw materials and supplies for pulp production, as well as to export products directly to its final destinations.

The purpose of the river dock is for unloading wood from barges coming from our Río Negro Logistics Terminal on the coast of the Uruguay River. Each barge is 90 meters long and has a cargo capacity of 5,000 tonnes - the equivalent of 170 truckloads.

International ship owners have recognized the Punta Pereira Port Terminal as one of the most efficient in the world for loading cellulose.

Recovery 

In the cooking process, the white liquor -used to separate the cellulose from the rest of the wood- is mixed with organic components of the wood, turning into black liquor. Black liquor then is concentrated, its water removed in evaporators and derived to the Recovery Boiler. It is then burned to generate heat and thus, steam and electricity. The noncombustible portion of black liquor is extracted from the Recovery Boiler and treated to recompose white liquor, which reenters the process. This almost closed cycle, where energy and chemical inputs are recovered and reused, makes the Kraft process economically and environmentally viable.

Waste treatment 

In modern plants, the production incorporates processes to minimize the generation of residues or improve their quality. Most of the water used is recycled and reused, but also a part becomes steam and goes into the atmosphere, and another is returned to the river as effluent. This effluent is previously subject to physical, chemical and biological treatments in our Wastewater Treatment Plant in order to ensure the quality level required to be discharged into the Río de la Plata. Atmospheric emissions are 99% water vapor and meet the most demanding national and international environmental standards, just as liquid effluents do.

Cellulose is the main constituent of vegetable cell walls and constitutes the most abundant organic compound on the planet. 

Wood pulp produces not only different types of paper (high-quality, tissue, packaging, etc.) but also cardboard and a variety of sanitary products, such as diapers, as well. The pharmaceutical and food industries also use cellulose, and most recently as an alternative to plastic usage.

At our industrial complex, we produce short-fiber cellulose from several Eucalyptus species.

Learn more about the uses of wood: