Eternali establish woodchip business in northern Brazil - launches new business area with immediate start of deliveries of biomass to customers

Eternali launches a new business area focused on chipping wood raw material and delivering biomass to customers in northern Brazil. The establishment of the new business area is done with customer orders in place and completed acquisitions of chipping machine and land for a production site in the city of Moju in the state of Pará in northern Brazil. The first delivery to customers will take place already in the beginning of July.

"This is an important step for Eternali," says Andreas Forssell, CEO of Eternali. "We have always planned to evaluate the large domestic market for biomass from woodchips. After thorough analysis and effective sales efforts, we today have customer orders in place and have invested in a robust production facility with great location and also have a highly skilled team on site," Andreas continues.

The Brazilian market for woodchips is one of the largest in the world. A major contributing factor is the focus on green energy and biomass - nearly 5% of the country's energy was produced from biomass in 2023. The start-up of the chipping operation in northern Brazil means that Eternali has acquired land on the outskirts of the city of Moju with great logistical solutions to customers both by water and by land. Additionally, a strong woodchipper with high production capacity has been acquired and a team has been recruited to operate the business. The first delivery of biomass to customers will take place already in the beginning of July to JBS Foods, one of the world's largest meat producers with large operations in Brazil.

"Our newly established production facility, combined with the customer relationships we have worked up for some time now, truly creates a shortcut to a huge market for us. Our production capacity for our operation in Moju is over 70,000 tons annually. And that's from just one operation and woodchipper. With the customer agreements we already have as well as the ones we’re working on, we expect this acquisition to pay off within a year," says Andreas Forssell. "Not only can we immediately start delivering to and invoicing customers from our Moju business, but we also have several potential customers to negotiate new agreements with, which provides good expansion opportunities also in other locations where we could expand the business area and replicate the concept," Andreas concludes.

The new operation in Moju is close to Belem, where Eternali's Brazilian office is located. The operation is in a geographic area that includes several nearby sawmills, providing good access to and a favourable price for raw materials (residues from forestry and sawmills). The acquisition of the land and woodchipper is financed by the company's own cash reserves.