J&F will invest R$25 billion to double cellulose factory production in MS

The J&F holding company announced this week that it will contribute R$25 billion to more than double the production of its subsidiary Eldorado Brasil Celulose. The investments will be applied to the construction of a new production line at the unit located in Três Lagoas (MS). The group is facing a legal dispute over control of Eldorado with Paper Excellence, based in Indonesia and a partner in the business.

Due to the legal dispute between shareholders, the factory expansion project has not progressed in recent years. With the announcement of the billion-dollar investment, despite the dispute continuing in court, J&F wants to change this and put into motion its plan to increase the production of short fiber pulp. At an event in São Paulo on Monday 22/4, Wesley Batista, founder and shareholder of J&F, revealed that the plan must now be implemented. “The project will come out, it will move forward and we will invest R$25 billion in investment for its operationalization,” he stated.

Eldorado Brasil Cellulose exports to 40 countries on all continents and obtained a profit of R$ 2.3 billion in 2023. With the construction of the second line, its annual cellulose production should jump from the current 1.8 million tons to around 4 .4 million tons. In addition to the new factory, the company must build a 90 km railway to connect the plant to the municipality of Aparecida do Taboado (MS), where the Malha Norte railway (formerly Ferronorte), operated by Rumo Logística, begins.

The construction of the railway branch, already approved by the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT), will aim to facilitate the transport of cellulose produced in Três Lagoas to the Port of Santos, aiming for export. Last year, the company opened a terminal at the port capable of receiving wagons and with the capacity to handle 3 million tons of cellulose. To build the railway, the company will invest resources of around R$900 million.

With 70 years of history, the J&F group controls several leading companies in their segments. Among them are JBS, the largest producer of protein-based foods in the world, Âmbar Energia, Flora Higiene e Cosméticos, Canal Rural, J&F Mineração, Banco Original and PicPay. With around 290 thousand employees, the company claims to be present in more than 190 countries. In Brazil, it has 173 thousand direct employees.