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A gigantic piece of over 300 tons was hoisted to almost 100 meters high this Tuesday (26th) in the construction of the Arauco pulp megafactory in Inocência, Mato Grosso do Sul. The equipment, called “steam drum,” is the heart of the largest recovery boiler in the world in a pulp factory. Manufactured in China, the gigantic piece, 32 meters long, took 45 days of maritime journey and another 48 days of land transport between the Port of Santos and the construction site. According to information from the NSC portal, the Sucuriú Project has an investment of R$ 23.3 billion and is expected to operate by the end of 2027.
A gigantic piece weighing over 300 tons, equivalent to about 200 cars or two Statues of Liberty, was hoisted to almost 100 meters high at the construction site of the Arauco pulp megafactory in Inocência, Mato Grosso do Sul. The operation, carried out this Tuesday (26th), marks one of the most complex stages of the Sucuriú Project, the largest investment in the history of the Chilean multinational. The gigantic piece, technically called a “steam drum,” will be positioned at the top of the recovery boiler that the company claims is the largest in the world in a pulp factory.
The equipment is 32 meters long, 3.15 meters wide, and 3.81 meters high. It was manufactured in China and followed a logistical route that lasted about 45 days between Asia and Brazil by sea. The land transport between the Port of Santos and Inocência took another 48 days, totaling more than three months of moving the gigantic piece until it reached the site where two cranes with a capacity of 750 tons hoisted it to the top of the structure.
What the gigantic piece does inside the boiler
The steam drum is part of the factory’s recovery boiler and is responsible for separating water and steam during the industrial process. From this separation, the steam goes to turbines that transform heat and pressure into electrical energy, making the factory self-sufficient in energy and even capable of exporting the surplus to the national grid.
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The complete structure of the boiler will have the capacity to generate more than 2,400 tons of steam per hour and produce more than 400 megawatts of clean energy. Half of this generation will supply the industrial operation itself, while the rest will be destined for the National Interconnected System. The gigantic 300-ton piece hoisted this Tuesday is the central piece that allows this Arauco generation cycle to function.
The mega-operation of hoisting in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul
The installation of the gigantic piece mobilized hundreds of workers and required detailed studies on weight, stability, lifting speed, weather conditions, and soil preparation. The two cranes used in the operation have an individual capacity of up to 750 tons, and the positioning at almost 100 meters high required millimetric coordination between the engineering teams.
The soil at the construction site had to be specifically prepared to support the combined weight of the cranes and the 300-ton load during the hoisting. Any variation in wind, temperature, or humidity could compromise the operation. The logistics of bringing the gigantic piece from China to the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul, passing through ocean, port, and hundreds of kilometers of Brazilian highways, was in itself an operation that required months of planning.
The numbers of the Sucuriú Project
The Arauco enterprise in Inocência has an expected investment of US$ 4.6 billion, approximately R$ 23.3 billion at the current exchange rate. The factory will have a production capacity of 3.5 million tons of cellulose per year and will occupy an area of 3,500 hectares about 50 kilometers from the center of Inocência, on the banks of the Sucuriú River.
The construction began in 2024 and the operations are expected to start by the end of 2027. The project is expected to generate more than 14,000 jobs during the peak of construction, a number that exceeds the total population of Inocência, estimated at 8,400 residents. After operations begin, the factory will maintain around 6,000 permanent jobs in the industrial, forestry, and logistics areas, in addition to 400,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantation.
What the megafactory changes for Inocência and Brazil
The arrival of an investment of R$ 23 billion in a municipality of 8,400 inhabitants promises to irreversibly transform the local economy. The demand for services, housing, and urban infrastructure is already changing the profile of Inocência, which will receive thousands of temporary workers during the construction and a permanent population linked to the factory’s operation.
For Brazil, the Sucuriú Project by Arauco consolidates Mato Grosso do Sul as a pulp hub alongside states like São Paulo and Bahia.
The factory’s energy self-sufficiency, with the generation of 400 megawatts of clean energy, and the ability to export surplus to the national system reinforce the role of the pulp industry as a source of renewable energy from biomass.
Did you imagine that a 300-ton piece manufactured in China would take 93 days to reach the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul? What impresses you more: the weight equivalent to two Statues of Liberty, the R$ 23 billion investment, or the 14,000 jobs? Tell us in the comments.
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