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From the Chinese factory to the southern Mato Grosso hinterland, the piece traveled about 45 days by sea and another 48 by land between Santos and Inocência. It was lifted by two cranes of up to 750 tons each and will give life to a boiler that should generate more than 400 megawatts, half of which will be returned to the national electric system.
Weighing as much as two Statues of Liberty and manufactured in China, a steam balloon of more than 300 tons, a piece considered the heart of the world’s largest recovery boiler in a pulp factory, was hoisted almost 100 meters high at the future unit of the Chilean Arauco, in Inocência (MS). The operation took place on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, and marked one of the most complex stages of the so-called Sucuriú Project, an investment of about US$ 4.6 billion in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The hoisting was described by the company as one of the central milestones of the construction. Hundreds of workers and specialized teams were involved in the operation, which involved two cranes capable of lifting up to 750 tons each and months of technical planning, with calculations of weight, center of gravity, stability, hoisting speed, climate, and ground conditions. The forecast is that the factory will start operating at the end of 2027.
The giant piece that came from China
Some project sources even cite a weight of 312 tons, equivalent to approximately 200 cars or two Statues of Liberty suspended at once. It is Valmet, a Finnish multinational partner of Arauco, that is responsible for supplying the recovery boiler.
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To reach the construction site in the southern Mato Grosso hinterland, the steam balloon faced international logistics considered robust by the company itself. It left China, crossed the ocean in a maritime journey of about 45 days, and landed at Brazilian ports, with the heaviest part of the cargo passing through the Port of Santos, in São Paulo. From there, it traveled another 48 days by land transport on highways until reaching Inocência in early March this year.
The hoisting almost 100 meters above the ground
The major technical moment came now, in May, with the hoisting to the top of the boiler structure. The operation combined two high-capacity cranes, synchronized to safely lift the piece to almost 100 meters high, equivalent to a building of about 30 stories, in a maneuver that required millimetric precision to place the vessel in the intended location.
Behind the impressive image, there is work planned for months. Engineers needed to assess how the weight would be distributed, at what speed the equipment could rise, what the ideal time and wind window for the operation was, and how the ground would behave under the concentrated load of the cranes. Accidents in hoisting of this magnitude tend to have severe consequences, which explains the rigorous protocol adopted by the company.
Why this balloon is the heart of the factory
Technically, the steam balloon is the piece that separates the water from the steam generated inside the recovery boiler. It is a decisive step in the thermodynamic cycle that sustains all pulp production, as the steam produced then goes through superheaters and turbines, transforming heat and pressure into electrical energy that drives much of the industrial operation.
It’s no wonder that project executives refer to it as the heart of the factory. Without this efficient separation between liquid and steam, the entire energy generation system of the unit would be compromised. The choice of a single piece, instead of modular, is what makes the equipment so heavy and difficult to transport and install, but also ensures more robustness and durability throughout the plant’s useful life.
Energy that goes beyond the factory itself
The recovery boiler that houses the balloon is designed to operate with more than 2,400 tons of steam per hour, a number that gives the dimension of the industrial scale of the enterprise. After passing through the superheaters, the dry steam goes to the turbines, where the combination of heat and pressure is converted into electricity considered renewable, originating from the biomass of the industrial process itself.
Arauco’s expectation is for a generation of over 400 megawatts. Of this total, half would be for the factory’s own consumption and the other half would be injected into the National Interconnected System, contributing to the country’s supply. This model, known as cogeneration, is becoming one of the pillars of competitiveness in the pulp sector, which increasingly positions itself as a net generator of clean energy, not just a consumer.
The Sucuriú Project in Mato Grosso do Sul
The Sucuriú Project marks the entry of Arauco’s pulp division into Brazil. The total investment, around US$ 4.6 billion, is expected to result in a plant with a capacity of 3.5 million tons of short fiber pulp annually, primarily aimed at the international market. The unit occupies an area of about 3,500 hectares, approximately 50 kilometers from the center of Inocência, next to the Sucuriú River.
The venture is considered by the sector as the largest single-stage pulp production project in the world, meaning all capacity will come into operation at once. For Mato Grosso do Sul, it represents a strategic reinforcement in consolidating the state as a forestry and industrial hub, with job creation, attraction of suppliers, and a boost to logistics infrastructure works related to production outflow.
The impact on the Brazilian industry
More than a milestone for Arauco, the lifting symbolizes the advancement of a front where Chinese technology, European engineering, and Brazilian labor meet on a single construction site. The combination of equipment from China, systems supplied by the Finnish company Valmet, metal structures executed by companies like Enesa Engenharia, and capital from a Chilean multinational highlights the global nature of this type of industrial megaproject.
For the reader interested in oil, gas, and infrastructure, the case also illustrates a broader movement: the cogeneration of energy in large industrial plants, which brings the productive sector closer to debates on energy transition and electricity supply security. Each new pulp factory with electricity surplus for the grid contributes to the Brazilian energy mix with a renewable and dispatchable source, complementary to wind, solar, and hydroelectric power.
The lifting of the steam balloon in Inocência shows how a single piece can summarize the complexity of a modern industrial megaproject. Manufactured in China, transported for months across ocean and highways, lifted by cranes capable of raising 750 tons, and installed atop the world’s largest recovery boiler, the equipment will be the heart of Arauco’s future factory and an essential part of the generation of renewable energy intended to supply not only the complex itself but also the national electrical system.
And you, what did you think of the engineering mega-operation that lifted this 300-ton balloon almost 100 meters high in the interior of Mato Grosso do Sul? Can you imagine how much the partnership between Brazil, China, Chile, and Finland can drive the pulp industry and energy generation in the country? Leave your comment, tell us what impressed you the most, and share the article with those interested in major works, industry, and energy transition.
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