The expansion works at the industrial complex located in the state of Durango include a new impregnation center and a melanin line, which will supply value-added products to the subsidiary’s eight plants in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

The project, called Alacrán (Scorpion), is scheduled to start up in the first half of 2025 and incorporates cutting edge technology to maximize occupational safety, environmental efficiency and productivity. It will also leverage emissions from the production process to generate energy.

The project involves the construction of 11,000 m², with 9,000 m² for the impregnation center and 2,000 m² for the new melamine line. The plant will generate 70 direct jobs and 200 indirect jobs and will aim to empower small local forestry producers.

During the inauguration of the works, an event attended by the Chilean ambassador to Mexico, Beatriz Sánchez, and the governor of Durango, Esteban Villegas, Arauco’s manager in Mexico, José Manuel Hernández, said that “we cannot carry out this business on our own, without the active collaboration of the forestry industry in Durango and, of course, the authorities.”