Who builds the mills, and who finances them

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Valmet published the value of only two mill orders: Kemi in Finland at EUR 350 to 400 million, and Sucuriu in Brazil at over EUR 1 billion. Andritz's releases for Cerrado and Paso de los Toros give no value. This post shows who built each mill, what the makers say about their digital systems, and how export credit agencies help pay.

Published October 27, 2026 · Facts as of October 27, 2026 · 10 min read · Sources listed at the end

Facts as of October 27, 2026. This page states the facts as they stood on that date. Figures, rules and company plans may have changed since publication. We review this guide every six months and update the pages.

Over EUR 1 billionValmet's published order value for the complete Sucuriu pulp mill in Brazil ⁴

EUR 350 to 400 millionValmet's published value for its core equipment at the Kemi mill in Finland ³

USD 800 millionExport credit guaranteed by Finnvera for Andritz deliveries to Suzano's Cerrado mill ¹¹

USD 970 millionExport credit financing guaranteed by Finnvera for Valmet deliveries to Arauco's Sucuriu mill ¹⁴

The 60-second version

What is it?

A pulp mill is bought in two parts. The owner buys the equipment from a maker, mainly Valmet or Andritz. The owner also needs money to pay for it, from banks, export credit agencies, development banks and its own cash ^3,11,14.

Why does it matter?

Two makers supplied the main equipment for all six large mills in this post ^1,2,3,4,5,6. Order values are rarely public. When a loan is guaranteed by an export credit agency, the agency often publishes the loan amount and names the maker ^11,14.

How does it work?

The owner signs a supply contract. A bank lends money to pay the maker. An export credit agency in the maker's home country guarantees part of the loan. The owner repays the bank over many years ^11,13.

Myth or fact?

"Every mega mill is financed by the company that owns it."

See the answer

Partly true. UPM said in 2019 that its Paso de los Toros mill in Uruguay would be mainly financed by operating cash flow ¹⁹. Suzano, Arauco and Metsa Fibre used export credit and development bank loans for part of their mills ^11,12,13,14.

In this post

1. Who supplied the equipment for six large mills?
2. How big are the mills these makers build?
3. What do the equipment orders cost?
4. Which digital and automation claims are real today?
5. How does an export credit agency link a maker to a mill abroad?
6. Who else has paid for these mills?

01Who supplied the equipment for six large mills?

Two companies appear in every case we checked. Valmet and Andritz are the two makers. Between them they supplied the main process equipment for all six mills in the table ^1,2,3,4,5,6.

Andritz supplied the fiberline, drying, evaporation, recovery boiler and white liquor plant at Suzano's Cerrado mill in Brazil, and the complete mill for UPM in Uruguay ^1,2. Valmet supplied all main process islands and automation at Metsa Fibre's Kemi mill in Finland, and the complete mill for Arauco's Sucuriu project in Brazil ^3,4. At two mills, both makers supplied main process equipment: Arauco's MAPA line 3 in Chile and APP's OKI mill in Indonesia ^5,6.

Mill equipment is capital goods: machines a business buys to make other goods. The recovery boiler is a central machine of the kraft process, covered in how a kraft mill works; mill energy and water looks at what the boiler gives back. At OKI, Andritz supplied a recovery boiler rated at 12,000 tons of dry solids a day, and Valmet supplied the dryers ⁶.

Compare

Six large mills, their equipment makers and the financing found

Sources as cited in each cell. Financing is what we found in public sources; it is not a full list. MAPA is Arauco's Chile mill.

Mill	Equipment maker	Published equipment value	Financing found
Cerrado, Brazil (Suzano). Started July 2024 7	Andritz: fiberline, drying, evaporation, recovery boiler, white liquor 1	None in Andritz's release 1	USD 800 million ECA credit 11; IFC USD 600 million 12
Paso de los Toros, Uruguay (UPM). Started April 2023 8	Andritz: complete mill 2	None in Andritz's release 2	Mainly operating cash flow, UPM said in 2019 19
Kemi, Finland (Metsa Fibre). Started September 2023 9	Valmet: main process islands and automation; Andritz: logyard cranes 3,17	EUR 350 to 400 million, Valmet core equipment 3	EUR 500 million bank loan, 80% Finnvera cover; EIB EUR 200 million 13
Sucuriu, Brazil (Arauco). Being built, start-up Q4 2027 21	Valmet: complete mill 4	Over EUR 1 billion 4	USD 2.2 billion package, USD 970 million ECA part 14
MAPA line 3, Chile (Arauco). First bale January 2023 22	Valmet: drying, recovery boiler, biomass boiler; Andritz: key technology 5,15	Not disclosed 5	EUR 555 million credit guaranteed by Finnvera 15
OKI, Indonesia (APP). Started late 2016 6	Valmet: dryers, evaporation, lime kilns, gasifiers; Andritz: recovery boiler 6	None found	None found in our sources

02How big are the mills these makers build?

The data show a wide range. Sucuriu will be the largest at 3.5 million tons a year. Kemi, at 1.5 million tons, is the smallest of the six ^9,10. Why new pulp mills are so big gives the reasons.

Both makers describe their own work as the largest of its kind. Andritz calls Cerrado the world's largest single-line fiberline ¹. Valmet says the pulp dryers at OKI are the largest machines in the world with the highest ever production ⁶. Valmet says the Sucuriu recovery boiler will be the largest in the world when it starts up ⁴. These are the makers' own claims. No source we found tests them against each other.

Sucuriu is still being built. Arauco's filings say operations begin in the fourth quarter of 2027 ²¹. Valmet's own article says the second half of 2027 ¹⁶.

Chart

Annual capacity of six large mills

million tons a year; MAPA line 3 is one line, the others are whole mills. Sources: Arauco ¹⁰, Valmet ⁶, Suzano ⁷, UPM ⁸, Valmet ⁵, Metsa Group ⁹. Orange bars: Valmet main supplier. Green: Andritz main supplier. Gray: both makers supplied main equipment.

03What do the equipment orders cost?

Most contract values are private. We found only two public ones. Valmet said its core equipment order for Kemi is about EUR 350 to 400 million ³. Valmet's stock exchange release for Sucuriu gives an order value of over EUR 1 billion ⁴. Andritz's releases for Cerrado and Paso de los Toros give no value ^1,2.

A contract value is only a part of the total cost of a mill. Finnvera and the European Investment Bank put the whole Kemi investment at EUR 1.6 billion in 2021 ¹³. Against that figure, Valmet's EUR 350 to 400 million is about 22% to 25% (our calculation). Metsa Group later gave a value of about EUR 2 billion ⁹. Arauco puts Sucuriu at about USD 4.6 billion ¹⁰, and its funding plan lists a 400,000 hectare eucalyptus plantation in the project scope ²³. The two totals do not cover the same things, so cost per ton from different mills cannot be compared directly.

For Arauco's MAPA line 3, Valmet said the order value would not be disclosed. It added that a project of this size is typically valued at EUR 250 to 300 million ⁵. That is Valmet's estimate and not a price.

04Which digital and automation claims are real today?

Equipment makers sell digital systems with their mills. Their pages and press releases are the main public source. We label each system by stage and say who makes the claim.

One system runs in a working mill. At Kemi, two Andritz cranes unload wood from trains and trucks using machine vision and no operator. Metsa Fibre calls this a world first ¹⁷. Metsa also said the new woodyard technology takes time to run reliably ¹⁷.

Two other items are claims by the maker. Andritz says its Metris platform serves more than 100 mills. The page names no mill and gives no result ¹⁸. Valmet calls the Sucuriu automation the most digitalized asset in the history of the global pulp industry. That mill is still being built ¹⁶.

How real is it?

Digital and automation systems at three mills

• In Production
  Autonomous woodyard cranes, KemiTwo Andritz cranes unload wood without operators, using machine vision. Metsa Fibre calls it a world first, a company claim ¹⁷.
• In Production
  Andritz Metris platformAndritz says it serves more than 100 mills. The page names no mill and gives no result, so the count is a vendor claim ¹⁸.
• Being Built
  Valmet DNA automation, SucuriuAbout 60,000 interface signals. Valmet calls it the most digitalized asset in the history of the global pulp industry, a vendor claim. Start-up is planned for the second half of 2027 ¹⁶.

Stage labels: In production (commercial plants running), Being built, Planned (announced, not yet built), Pilot (test plant), Lab (research only), Stopped (closed or cancelled). Vendor statements are labeled as claims.

At Kemi, two Andritz cranes unload wood using machine vision and no operator, Metsa Fibre says ¹⁷.

05How does an export credit agency link a maker to a mill abroad?

An export credit agency (ECA) is a government-backed body that supports exports from its own country. In the cases below, the agency is in the country where the maker sends its equipment from. The mill is in another country. See ECA-backed finance and financing industrial goods trade in the Ossiano Trade Finance Guide.

For Cerrado, Finnvera, the Finnish agency, guaranteed a USD 800 million export credit. The exporters named are Andritz Oy, Andritz AG and Andritz Brasil. The lender is Finnish Export Credit Ltd, and HSBC is the arranging bank and guarantee holder ¹¹. For Kemi, Finnvera gave an 80% guarantee on a EUR 500 million bank loan ¹³. In Sweden, the agency EKN covered 95% of an export credit of up to USD 174.3 million for Valmet equipment at CMPC's Guaiba mill ²⁴. Cerrado's credit period is 2 + 10 years and MAPA's is 8.5 years ^11,15. Lenders call this length the tenor. The structure is old. Finnvera guaranteed a 12-year USD 900 million credit for the Montes del Plata mill in Uruguay in 2011 ²⁰.

1. Mill owner signs a supply contractAt Cerrado, Suzano buys from Andritz Oy, Andritz AG and Andritz Brasil ¹¹.
2. Banks lend to pay the makerHSBC arranged and holds the guarantee at Cerrado. Nordea holds it at Kemi ^11,13.
3. The agency guarantees the loanFinnvera, in the maker's home country, guarantees 80% of the Kemi loan ¹³.
4. The maker is paidThe loan pays for equipment and services delivered to the mill ¹¹.
5. The owner repays over yearsCerrado: credit period of 2 + 10 years. MAPA: 8.5 years ^11,15.

06Who else has paid for these mills?

Development banks and the owners' own cash also appear. For Cerrado, IFC announced a USD 600 million sustainability-linked loan in December 2022, with USD 250 million from its own account and USD 350 million raised from other institutions ¹². Together with the ECA-backed loan, that is USD 1.4 billion (our calculation) against a cost estimated at the time at about USD 3.7 billion ¹¹.

For Sucuriu, Arauco closed a USD 2.2 billion package in August 2025. It has a USD 1.25 billion loan co-led by IDB Invest and IFC, and USD 970 million of ECA financing guaranteed by Finnvera. Finnvera calls its cover a buyer credit guarantee ¹⁴. That package equals about 48% of the USD 4.6 billion total (our calculation from ¹⁰ and ¹⁴). For Kemi, the EIB lent EUR 200 million beside the Finnvera-backed EUR 500 million loan ¹³.

UPM is a different case. It said in 2019 that its Paso de los Toros mill would be mainly financed by operating cash flow and regular group financing ¹⁹. We found no ECA or development bank loan for it. Loan terms, the role of each lender and the repayment profile are covered in financing a mega mill. Chile and Uruguay covers the two countries where these mills sit.

What this means for traders

• Treat equipment orders as one part of a mill's cost. In our sources, only Valmet's Kemi and Sucuriu values are public.
• Read a maker's digital claims as claims until a mill reports a result.
• Export credit guarantees, development bank loans and owner cash can all sit in one mill's financing. Check which lender takes which risk.

Questions traders ask

Who builds large pulp mills?

The main equipment for the six large mills in this post came from two makers, Valmet and Andritz. Each supplied a complete mill or main process islands, and at two mills both supplied main equipment.

How much does the equipment for a pulp mill cost?

Few values are public. Valmet gave about EUR 350 to 400 million for its core equipment at Kemi and over EUR 1 billion for the complete Sucuriu mill. Andritz's releases for Cerrado and Paso de los Toros give no value.

What is an export credit agency?

It is a government-backed body that supports exports from its own country. In pulp mill deals, Finnvera in Finland and EKN in Sweden guaranteed loans that paid for equipment sent abroad.

Did export credit pay for every large mill?

No. UPM said in 2019 that its Paso de los Toros mill would be mainly financed by operating cash flow, and we found no export credit or development bank loan for it. Cerrado, Kemi, Sucuriu and MAPA all had Finnvera-guaranteed credit.

Are the makers' digital system claims proven?

Some run in working mills, such as the autonomous cranes at Kemi. Others are claims without a named mill or result, such as the number of mills using Andritz Metris. Valmet's Sucuriu system is still being built.

Read next

• Inside the millHow a kraft mill works: the chemical loop that made modern pulp
• Inside the millWhy new pulp mills are so big
• Money and rulesFinancing a mega mill
• Inside the millMills that make their own power: energy, water and the recovery boiler
• Makers and buyersChile and Uruguay: big mills, small countries
• Money and rulesCash in the chain: terms, letters of credit and stock at ports
• Ossiano Trade Finance GuideHow each trade finance instrument works
• GlossaryTrade finance terms in plain English

Buying equipment or financing a mill expansion? Ossiano Capital works on trade finance for pulp and paper trades.

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Sources and notes

1. Andritz, Suzano, Brazil orders a pulp production line from ANDRITZ, November 9, 2021. https://www.andritz.com/newsroom-en/pulp-paper/2021-11-09-suzano-cerrado
2. Pulp and Paper News, Andritz hands over the world's biggest single line pulp mill to UPM, March 6, 2024. https://www.pulpapernews.com/en/node/15427
3. Valmet, Valmet delivers all main process islands and automation for Metsa Fibre's Kemi bioproduct mill in Finland, February 19, 2021. https://www.valmet.com/news/press-releases/2021/valmet-delivers-all-main-process-islands-and-automation-for-metsa-fibres-kemi-bioproduct-mill-in-finland/
4. Valmet, stock exchange release, Valmet to supply a complete pulp mill with full scope automation and flow control solutions to Arauco in Brazil, September 25, 2024. https://valmet.com/news/stock-exchange-releases/2024/inside-information-valmet-to-supply-a-complete-pulp-mill-with-full-scope-automation-and-flow-control-solutions-to-arauco-in-brazil
5. Valmet, Valmet to deliver key pulp mill technology for ARAUCO's new pulp line in Chile, December 19, 2018. https://www.valmet.com/news/press-releases/2018/valmet-to-deliver-key-pulp-mill-technology-for-araucos-new-pulp-line-in-chile/
6. Valmet, World records and excellent quality at OKI pulp mill (records as of June 2019); Andritz, recovery boilers data brochure, February 2019. https://www.valmet.com/about-us/references/pulping-and-fiber/apps-oki-pulp-and-paper-mill/
7. Suzano S.A., Form 6-K, Notice to the Market, Cerrado Project start-up, July 21, 2024. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/909327/000162828024032385/cerradoprojectstrt-up.htm
8. UPM, UPM Paso de los Toros pulp mill ready for start-up, March 31, 2023; UPM release via Inderes, April 15, 2023. https://www.upm.com/news-and-stories/releases/2023/03/upm-paso-de-los-toros-pulp-mill-ready-for-start-up-major-milestone-in-the-transformative-growth-investment-in-uruguay/
9. Metsa Group, Metsa Group Kemi bioproduct mill inaugurated, October 23, 2024. https://www.metsagroup.com/news-and-publications/news/2024/metsa-group-kemi-bioproduct-mill-inaugurated/
10. Arauco, ARAUCO's Board Approved Construction of the Sucuriu Project, September 25, 2024. https://arauco.com/en/directorio-de-arauco-aprueba-construccion-del-proyecto-sucuriu/
11. Finnvera, guaranteed transaction, Large equipment and service deliveries from Andritz to a pulp plant in Brazil with Finnvera's guarantee, January 13, 2023; Norton Rose Fulbright, November 2022. https://www.finnvera.fi/eng/export-and-internationalisation/finnvera-as-an-export-finance-provider/guaranteed-transactions/large-equipment-and-service-deliveries-from-andritz-to-a-pulp-plant-in-brazil-with-finnveras
12. IFC, press release on its sustainability-linked loan to Suzano, December 23, 2022. https://www.ifc.org/en/pressroom/2022/ifc-s-sustainability-linked-loan-to-suzano-will-boost-growth-and
13. Finnvera, Finnvera guarantees Metsa Fibre's investment in Kemi, March 1, 2021; European Investment Bank, press release 2021-054, February 11, 2021. https://www.finnvera.fi/eng/export-and-internationalisation/finnvera-as-an-export-finance-provider/guaranteed-transactions/finnvera-guarantees-metsa-fibre-s-investment-in-kemi
14. IFC, press release on Arauco financing, August 25, 2025; Finnvera, Finnvera guarantees Finnish exports worth USD 970 million to Arauco's major project, September 18, 2025. https://www.finnvera.fi/eng/export-and-internationalisation/finnvera-as-an-export-finance-provider/guaranteed-transactions/valmet-delivers-equipment-to-the-worlds-largest-pulp-mill-under-construction-in-brazil-finnvera
15. Finnvera, guaranteed transaction on the Arauco pulp mill modernisation and expansion in Chile, October 7, 2019. https://www.finnvera.fi/eng/export-and-internationalisation/finnvera-as-an-export-finance-provider/guaranteed-transactions/the-pulp-mill-modernisation-and-expansion-in-chile-is-one-of-the-largest-pulp-mill-investments-at
16. Valmet, Arauco Sucuriu project: one year of site works proceeding on schedule, 2026; Valmet, Valmet delivers a complete pulp mill to Arauco in Brazil. https://www.valmet.com/insights/articles/pulp/arauco-sucuriu-one-year-site-operations/
17. Metsa Fibre, Wood handling with the aid of machine vision and artificial intelligence, February 8, 2023; Metsa Group, Kemi bioproduct mill moves towards full capacity production, December 5, 2023. https://www.metsagroup.com/metsafibre/news-and-publications/news-and-releases/stories/2023/technology-woodyard-cranes/
18. Andritz, ANDRITZ Digital Solutions Metris, product page, 2026. https://www.andritz.com/pulp-and-paper-en/pulp-production/automation-and-digitalization-pulp-en/andritz-digital-solutions-metris
19. Bioenergy International, UPM invests US$3 billion in a world-class pulp mill in central Uruguay, July 2019. https://bioenergyinternational.com/upm-invests-us3-billion-in-a-world-class-pulp-mill-in-central-uruguay/
20. Finnvera, press release, Finnvera covering export credit financing for Montes del Plata pulp mill project in Uruguay, September 30, 2011. https://finnvera.fi/eng/finnvera/newsroom/press-releases/finnvera-covering-export-credit-financing-for-montes-del-plata-pulp-mill-project-in-uruguay
21. Arauco, Form 6-K, 2Q 2026 results, August 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001004156/000157587226000589/ara030_ex99-1.pdf
22. Valmet, Arauco's MAPA project makes progress and produces the first pulp bale from its new production line, January 25, 2023. https://www.valmet.com/insights/articles/pulp/araucos-mapa-project-makes-progress-and-produces-the-first-pulp-bale-from-its-new-production-line/
23. Arauco, Conference Call Sucuriu presentation, September 2024. https://arauco.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Conference-Call-Sucuriu-VF4.pdf
24. SEK, customer case Valmet, December 22, 2022; EKN, BioCMPC Project, Brazil, March 1, 2022. https://www.sek.se/en/case/valmet/

Trade figures come from UN Comtrade (2015 to 2025, as reported by 10 countries) and FAOSTAT (1961 to 2024), checked and recalculated by us; each chart names whose data it uses. All tons are metric tons. All facts on this page are as of October 27, 2026, the date of publication, and may have changed since. For rules and tariffs, check the pulp watch before you act.

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