A New Plant Shall Be Built!

Having overcome the economic recession, Ilim Group will continue the construction of a new pulp mill in Bratsk. On April 1, 2010, the Company's  Board of Directors approved $700 mln. investments in the project.

Ilim says the mill start-up is due in 2012 to be followed by a ramp-up to 720,000 tons of bleached softwood pulp per year. Therefore, the total annual pulp output of the Bratsk Mill will exceed one million tons, over 80% of which will be exported to China. About 20-30% of the investments is Ilim's equity with the rest to be borrowed from banks. Ilim expects payback in 4-6 years.

The new Bratsk Pulp Mill project was designed back in 2007. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the project got on the Irkutsk Oblast priority project list in 2008. The economic recession forced the project to be suspended, but the market is now on its way to recovery.