Ilim Group has successfully completed the first water run of the XcelLine kraft linerboard machine (KLB machine) – the key equipment of the company’s new KLB Mill in Ust-Ilimsk.

A start-up of the KLB machine is scheduled for Q2 2023. Individual tests of its main equipment are underway. In December, the KLB Mill facilities were also energized; a full connection of the mill to the power grid is planned for April 2023. Besides, checkout and commissioning began with the Digesters & Washers and Recovery Boiler. The new mill will be started up in the first half of 2023.

“We are less than 6 months away from start-up of the KLB Mill in Ust-Ilimsk. Now Ilim Group is finalizing the main work on the project. Along with the construction, there are a lot of efforts made to prepare for a launch of the KLB mill products in the market, first of all, in China”, comments Kseniia Sosnina, CEO of Ilim Group. “Despite the economic environment and complicated logistics, our development strategy remains the same. By 2025, we plan to increase our exports to China up to 2.4 million tons”.

The capacity of the new KLB machine is 600 thousand tons of finished products per year. The maximum daily production rate is 2,150 tons. The equipment was custom designed for Ilim Group.

The KLB machine can produce kraftliner of different basis weights, 80 to 175 gsm. Kraftliner will be suitable for the main end-use applications which include food packaging (owing to certificates for food industry, including ISEGA international certificate).

REFERENCE INFORMATION

The new KLB Mill in Ust-Ilimsk is a priority investment project of Ilim Group. It will allow the company to increase its current capacities in Ust-Ilimsk by 75% up to 1.5 million tons of finished products per year. The overall annual output of Ilim Group will grow to 4.6 million tons, one third of which will be unbleached packaging materials. Total investments in the project reached USD 1.3 billion.