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Brazilian cellulose producer Suzano has informed Finnish fiber firm Spinnova of its intent to cease collaborating on their jointly owned, wood-based fiber plant. The eucalyptus pulper will not invest further in Woodspin’s next phase of cooperation and will temporarily halt financing the facility.
Last March, the two signed a letter of intent: Spinnova and its partners (like Lenzing and H&M) will supply fiber production technology to Suzano. The non-binding letter also outlined intentions to open a new production plant: one that would be near an existing Suzano pulp mill and capable of pumping out 20,000 metric tons of fiber per year.
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What happened after signing the agreement—which outlined Suzano’s plans to invest in Spinnova’s technology—was a deviation from the plan, however. A few times over. Production has paused at the plant as the Respin co-owner failed to meet the terms outlined in the letter of intent.
But that didn’t stop Puma from entering a multiyear agreement with Woodspin in December 2024. Nor did it deter industrial manufacturing conglomerate Siemens from onboarding last month in an effort to advance automation. Last December, Business Finland even granted the Scandian textile fiber firm a $13.8 million R&D loan.
“As a result of this decision from Suzano, Spinnova currently does not expect Suzano to make a factory investment in the near future,” Spinnova said in a statement released Friday morning.
To that end, the micro-fibrillated cellulose developer emphasized that the decision was based on “changing priorities and a capital allocation strategy” and not indicative of Spinnova’s technology or ability to deliver. Furthermore, Suzano alleged the pumping of the financial brakes is, in fact, a break. Which tracks, considering the Lenzing stakeholder has been investing in Spinnova since 2017. As such, Suzano will continue to be a shareholder in Spinnova.
For context: The strategic partners’ relationship didn’t hard-launch, so to speak, until 2020 when they went Dutch on Woodspin.
When their smart factory broke ground in mid-2021, Suzano—having just invested $26.73 million into building the factory—was reportedly ready to increase MFC volume to yield 1,000 metric tons produced annually. When the 50/50 effort opened in May 2023, plans were being laid for a second site—on the Brazilian company’s home turf—to further increase yield. The annual production capacity was projected to hit one million metric tons by 2033.