The Navigator Company
The Portucel Soporcel Group is a portuguese company, which has resulted from the union of Portucel and Soporcel. It is one of the five largest European producers of uncoated woodfree paper.
The Portucel Soporcel Group has a productive capacity that exceeds 1 million tonnes of paper and 1.3 million tonnes of pulp, with 138 thousand hectares of forest and an annual turnover of over of 1,000 million euros.
The Group's production structure is based at three Mills, situated at Setúbal, Figueira da Foz and Cacia. These large-scale production units are equipped with the most up-to-date technology and are a benchmark for quality within the sector.
The Portucel Soporcel Group stands out for its use of eucalyptus as the prime raw material for the production of pulp and fine printing and writing paper of superior quality aimed at meeting the demanding European market.
Highlights
- The brand Navigator, the World’s premium office paper best seller, is produced by this group.
- Portucel Soporcel Group is the biggest forestry owner in Portugal. Due to this condition, it is a well known wine, honey, seeds and specific tree (besides eucalyptus) producer. It has a well equiped private firemen department to prevent fires.
History
Portucel
Portucel began operations at the Cacia mill in 1953 producing raw pine pulp, and became a pioneer worldwide in 1957 when it introduced sulphate bleached eucalyptus pulp, at the kraft process, into its production.
Seven years later, at the Setúbal mill, Inapa began its operations in a production unit integrated with Portucel, transforming pulp into paper that was sold throughout Europe.
Portucel bought Papéis Inapa in 2000, thus creating a strategic partnership of great importance in initiating the of restructuring process of the pulp and the paper sector in Portugal.
Soporcel
Although it began operations in 1984 with the inauguration of the mill at Figueira da Foz, Soporcel had been constituted five years earlier. The first paper machine (PM I) began working in the year 1991 and currently has a capacity of 350,000 tonnes/year.
The installation of the second paper machine (PM II – 425,000 tonnes/year), representing the most advanced technology in the sector, reinforced the position held by the Figueira da Foz mill in the European segment of the uncoated woodfree paper market.
The success that the company has enjoyed from its beginnings is the result of the innovatory spirit in which it has addressed the market and the sale of its products.