Kondopoga Pulp and Paper Mill improves transport infrastructure for steady export of finished products
For this purpose, the railway tracks on the territory of the plant were extended, which allows the enterprise to meet the requirements of the Russian Railways for the train composition and continue to supply products to China. The Head of Karelia visited the new railway section during a working trip to the Kondopozhsky District.
Every day the plant in Kondopoga loads and sends one train with paper, which amounts to 62 large-tonnage containers. The main consumer of the paper produced at the plant is China today. Up to 80 percent of the total volume of the production is sent to this country.
The Russian Railways demanded an increase in the number of trains heading to China via Zabaikalsk at the end of 2023, which is related to the expansion of the station capacity. The new railway section allowed the KPPM to respond to the requirement of the country main carrier. The number of trains increased from 57 to 71 conventional carriages. The length of the section is about 600 meters with a total length of the plant tracks of 24 kilometers.
During a working visit to the Kondopozhsky District, the Head of Karelia Artur Parfenchikov met with the management of the PPM, visited the production facility and a new section of the railway.
– The project is economically advantageous as well as strategically important for our republic. The updated transport infrastructure allows us to send trains with a larger volume of cargo through the Zabaikalsk hub, and from there to China, the main market for the mill paper products, – emphasized Artur Parfenchikov.
The work was carried out by the enterprise “Karellestrans” , which, like the pulp and paper mill, is a part of the group of companies “Karelia Pulp” and provides the pulp and paper mill with the transport services, transporting both raw materials and finished products. The vehicle fleet of “Karellestrans” includes 50 logging trucks, 600 of its own logging railway platforms, and 80 woodchip gondola trailers.
– The extension of the railway tracks is a significant project for the plant which got investment of about 70 million rubles. We are following the path of increasing efficiency with the Russian Railways, increasing the number of trains to 71 conventional units, wagons and platforms. In order to accept trains of such length, we had to increase the tracks of our own station, – said Dmitry Znamensky, the Managing Director of the OOO “Karellestrans”. – The facility is quite complex: the soil on the site was marshy, we had to lay about 25 thousand tons of sand and gravel mixture and crushed stone. Nevertheless, the project was implemented in a short time.
The implemented project allowed “Karelia Pulp” to significantly reduce costs for shunting operations and save time on locomotive operation, and most importantly, it made it possible to confidently continue deliveries of the Kondopoga PPM products to the main sales market.
