UPM advances biorefinery plan with wood delivery

HELSINKI—Finnish forest industry company UPM has progressed its biorefinery in Leuna, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, with the first delivery of wood from "sustainably managed regional forests."

The delivery, UPM said Nov. 22, is "both a symbolic first and an important practical step," enabling the company to begin testing its wood handling and processing activities.

UPM's nearly $580 million, 200,0000-metric-ton (200 ktpa) biorefinery will manufacture bio-mono ethylene glycol UPM BioPura as well as UPM BioMotion renewable functional fillers for the rubber and plastics industries.

Sourced from hardwood, the fillers are billed as "a truly sustainable alternative" to fossil-based carbon black and precipitated silica.

UPM was initially set to start production at the plant by the end of 2022, with ramp-up scheduled for 2023.

In its latest announcement, however, UPM said the commissioning and start-up were scheduled for next year but did not provide an exact date.

"The concrete foundations have been poured, and the first buildings are rising from the ground," it said. "The huge pipe rack that will bear the grid for utilities, for example, has been constructed."

UPM said the wood delivery underlined the progress onsite, while enabling it to establish "reliable supply chains and processes" for future wood-sourcing operations and logistics chains.