Under the slogan "Together on the right track", about 200 wood suppliers of Celulose Beira Industrial, Celbi SA, from different regions of the country, were on Saturday, 30th May, in Figueira da Foz, for an 'Open Day "promoted by the leading company in the production of short-fiber pulp in Portugal.

The day began with a reception of the invited partners who, after a welcome breakfast, could watch the film, produced to mark the 50th anniversary of Celbi and which gives people the reality of the company that, worldwide, it is an example of effectiveness and efficiency, putting already nearly 700 thousand tons per year in the European market of paper companies that produce from fine papers to tissue.

"Just by itself Celbi acquires annually more than a hundred million euros of eucalyptus." stressed Borges de Oliveira, the Altri Group administrator. "It is essential for us to have a stable relationship and commitment to our suppliers and, through them, also with forest producers” he added. "Today, they have the opportunity to visit the best pulp mill for paper in the world. Not the biggest, but the best because it has the lowest consumption of water and energy per ton of pulp produced, and is at the level of excellence in all the indicators used in the analysis of the sector mills”, he explained, launching a new challenge to the wood suppliers. "If there is an indicator in which we can still improve, it is on the wood consumption per ton of pulp produced," he said.

To do this, Celbi urged its supplier partners to further bet on the most profitable type of wood for the production of short-fiber pulp, the eucalyptus globulus, and to early avoid cutting down trees. Following this challenge, Miguel Silveira, Altri Florestal administrator, announced the creation of a freephone, available to the producers and suppliers of wood, in order to, not only to streamline the business relationship, but also contribute to improve the entire process, either through access to improved plants grown in the greenhouses of Celbi or, for example, in the support of applications for modernization of equipment or certification procedures under the Community support framework Portugal 20/20. The day continued with a visit to the factory facilities - improved in recent years, since the acquisition of Celbi by the Altri Group, with sequential investments around one billion euros - guided by staff who explained the whole process of transformation of the raw material provided by its partners into the final product.

To conclude this Open Day, Celbi provided a social lunch to visitors, many of whom belong, already, to a second generation of wood suppliers of the company based in Figueira da Foz. "And some come with their children, which pleases us greatly, in terms of what it means for stability and a long-lasting relationship and of trust", stressed Carlos VanZeller, administrator of Celbi, which repeated the conviction that" Together on the right track"is more than a slogan, it is a reality with future. For a future memory of this Open Day, visitors were offered various souvenirs, including the book of the former high-level executive of the company, Manuel Saraiva Santos, entitled "A Indústria da pasta de celulose na história da Figueira da Foz - Celbi 1960-1967" (The Pulp Industry in the History of Figueira da Foz). The work, which marks the 50th anniversary of the company, pays tribute to all those who contributed, throughout these five decades, for the construction and affirmation of a company which is already one of the largest domestic exporters.