Mar 10, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. Metsa-Botnia Ab is to build a mill to produce eucalyptus pulp in Uruguay, South America. Botnia’s Board of Directors today decided to go ahead with the investment, which will cost an estimated USD 1.1 billion. The mill will have a production capacity of 1 million t/a of bleached eucalyptus pulp. The mill will be equipped with the best available technology. Excavation of the mill site will begin immediately. Construction of the mill itself will take just over two years, with start-up expected in the third quarter of 2007. The site for the mill is Fray Bentos, a town in western Uruguay on the banks of the river Uruguay more than 300 kilometres from the capital Montevideo. When operating at full capacity, the mill will use 3.5 million cubic metres of wood raw material a year. About 60 per cent of this wood will be supplied from the plantations of Botnia’s subsidiary Compania Forestal Oriental (FOSA), most of which are situated near Fray Bentos. FOSA is a eucalyptus cultivation specialist founded in Uruguay in 1990. It currently owns 90,000 hectares of land, of which around 60 per cent is either planted or suitable for planting. FOSA’s plantations, activities and entire procurement chain have received FSC certification. The pulp mill project is the biggest industrial investment in Uruguay’s history. It will boost Uruguay’s gross national product by 1.6 per cent. The project is also the biggest industrial private sector investment by Finland abroad.