UPM begins construction of new nursery in Central Uruguay
July 31, 2020
HELSINKI (News release) -- UPM has begun the construction of its third nursery in Uruguay, located in Central Uruguay, about 10 kilometers from Sarandí del Yí, Durazno. The investment is approximately $25 million. The modern nursery will have an annual production capacity of more than 10 million seedlings of Eucalyptus dunnii and Eucalyptus grandis.
The new nursery will ensure the required annual planting capacity to supply the new UPM Paso de los Toros mill.
UPM currently owns two nurseries located in Paysandú department that produce more than 30 million seedlings a year and will continue to operate in the same way.
About 200 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the new nursery, which is estimated to last 18 months.
The nursery operation is scheduled to start in the first half of 2022 and the delivery of plants in the second half of the same year. The nursery is expected to create 120 permanent jobs.
The design and production process of the new nursery will be based on the best available techniques and equipment available, as well as the company's experience in managing the nurseries since 1991.
The nursery will have metal-frame greenhouses with intelligent computerized control of temperature and humidity, a biomass-based heating system and aluminum rolling tables.
In addition, it will have a high precision fertigation system to supply water and nutrients according to the needs of the plants. Said system will operate in a closed circuit, recovering surplus irrigation for reuse in the nursery itself and without generating effluents.
