A decisive landmark was reached in the growth of the Portucel Soporcel group on 15 August 2009 with the start of production at the new Setúbal paper mill. The new facility is centred around the largest and most sophisticated paper machine in the world for UWF office and printing paper, highly sought after in the international markets, and will allow the Group to increase its output to 1.55 million tons/year, adding further to its already extensive exports.

The Group's new Paper Mill is one of the world's largest for the production of high quality office and printing paper (UWF - Uncoated Woodfree Paper), boasting the largest production capacity for a single paper machine. The machine has many special and unique features, some of them never before seen, starting with the paper width (10.4 metres). The new unit has capacity to produce 80 tons/hour at a speed of 1,800 metres a minute, which means an output of 30 metres of paper a second.

With annual production capacity of 500 thousand tons, the new machine enables the Portucel Sorporcel group to integrate all the pulp produced at the Setúbal complex, increasing the value added of its products and establishing the Group as the European leader in the production of premium office paper.

The paper processing area at the Setúbal mill is equipped with three cutting machines for printing formats and three cutting machines for office paper, two of them with capacity to produce 16 reams simultaneously, making them also the largest ever produced anywhere in the world.

The paper reel store is fully automated, measuring 93.2 m in length and 28.4 m in width, providing capacity for 6000 reels, with an inflow of 186 reels/hour and an outflow of 164 reels/hour. The paper pallets are also stored in an automated warehouse measuring 122 m in length and 28.4 m in width, with capacity for approximately 32,000 pallets, offering an inflow of 215 pallets/hour and an outflow of 320 pallets/hour.

The new paper mill is also served by a new container park with an area of 35,000 m2, with capacity for approximately 1000 containers, and also by a new internal rail branch line, featuring 935 m of track. The new container park and branch line form part of the logistical facilities for dispatching paper from the Setúbal mill.

Using unique and technologically innovative solutions, the new plant was built in record time, whilst complying with the toughest envirohnmental standards in force in Portugal and the European Union. A combined cycle co-generation plant with natural gas turbines (80 MW) has also been built on the Setúbal site and will not only meet the power and steam needs of the new mill, but also feed surplus power into the national grid. Thanks to the use of natural gas, with its low carbon content, the plant offers excellent levels of energy and environmental efficiency.

The Portucel Soporcel group's new paper mill in Setúbal involved capital outlay of 550 million euros, generating high levels of value added, and is set to have a strong impact on the Portuguese economy.