Features Pulp
Andritz, Stora at odds over Montes del Plata mill

An Andritz subsidiary has launched arbitration proceedings against the owners of the Montes del Plata pulp mill in Uruguay. The 1.3 million tons/yr bleached eucalyptus kraft (BEK) mill is almost ready to begin production of market pulp, a senior executive of Stora Enso told the RISI news service. The mill is a joint venture of Stora Enso and Arauco.

In early June, Stora Enso reported that Andritz had begun arbitration proceedings related to contracts for the delivery, construction, installation, commissioning and completion by Andritz of major components of the Montes del Plata pulp mill project located at Punta Pereira in Uruguay. Celulosa y Energia Punta Pereira S.A.,a joint-venture company in the Montes del Plata group formed by Stora Enso and Arauco, disputes the claims brought by Andritz and will also actively pursue claims of its own for breach by Andritz of its obligations under the contracts.

The Andritz claim is for EUR 200 million (about CDN$298 million).

In 2012, Issue No. 26 of Andritz’s company magazine, Spectrum, had this to say about the ongoing construction at Montes del Plata:

“Richard Turner, Montes del Plata’s Project Director, calls this project “the most challenging I have been a part of” due to some very public labor actions, manpower shortages, and the failure of a few suppliers to deliver. Montes del Plata has had to take over some operations it had not planned on: the quarry company that provides rock for port construction, the central services company responsible for feeding the 4,500+ construction workers, and the human resources recruiting/hiring operation.”