Pulp Matters 2/2022

EDI TORIAL

Individuals matter

“IT HAS BEEN FANTASTIC TO EXCHANGE IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES WITH CUSTOMERS AROUND A SHARED TABLE AGAIN.”

In a business based on trust, it’s the people that make a difference.

Dear Reader, The theme of this issue of Pulp Matters magazine is “Individuals matter” – referring both to the individuals ready to deliver the perfect product fit to customers, and all those affected by our operations. In this issue, we cover these topics by highlighting our technical customer service and presenting the multiple impacts of our entire forestry value chain in Uruguay, including our new nursery and deep sea pulp terminal. Even though pulp can be seen as a commodity, one of the key attributes we have built around it is our team of truly dedicated people that run the business. The key to creating long lasting customer relationships is trust, and I would dare to say that during the past decade or so we have succeeded reasonably well in creating trustworthy relationships. In this sense we experienced a setback early this year with the long strike at our pulp mills in Finland and have since then focused on rebuilding trust and regaining our position with our customers. Part of the process of rebuilding trust has been the opportunity to get together and meet up again face-to-face with customers after the pandemic. It has been fantastic to be able to exchange ideas and experiences around a shared table, instead of just logging into an online meeting. One of the events making a welcome return to the live format is London Pulp Week in November, coinciding with the publication of this issue. Our greenfield pulp mill project in Paso de los Toros has been a massive undertaking and the first project of this scale for UPM Pulp, spanning all areas of the organisation. This type of investment requires a very long planning period and is also a huge logistical operation. Locally, the mill itself will have the biggest impact on life in the community of Paso de los Toros, but also the new railroad connection from the mill to the port of Montevideo is expected to have a positive effect on the entire region of Central Uruguay. On a global level the new mill will provide a significant capacity increase of eucalyptus pulp to the market. Besides servicing our current focus markets of Asia and Europe, it will enable us to enter the North American market. Our sincere ambition and intention is to become a solid and reliable supplier of eucalyptus pulp, backed by the supply security of our two mills and our comprehensive logistics network.

Tomas Wiklund Senior Vice President, Pulp Sales UPM Pulp tomas.wiklund@upm.com

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PUL P MAT TERS 02/2022