Setting sights on North America
Boosted by increased capacity from the Paso de los Toros pulp mill, UPM is gaining a solid foothold in North America.Having successfully established itself as a reliable pulp supplier in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region during the last decade, UPM Pulp took the next logical step of entering North America – the world’s third largest pulp market.
The company began developing its presence in the market in unison with the construction of the new UPM Paso de los Toros pulp mill in Uruguay, as this increased UPM’s pulp capacity by more than 50%. The mill reached its nominal annual production capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of eucalyptus pulp in the spring of 2024.
Darren Barker, Sales Director for UPM Pulp in North America, says he is very happy with how the local team has succeeded in building up the business and developing trust with customers.
“Pulp is very much a global business, and a relationship business. Creating trust takes time but UPM has an excellent global reputation and high quality products to build upon. After entering the market in 2021, our pulp deliveries will triple by 2025. I’m really proud of that result,” Barker says, adding that the most essential part of UPM’s success is the reliable delivery of products with consistently high quality.
Sustainable, flexible and customer-centric
Barker’s colleague Jean-François Royer, Senior Sales Manager for the region, has experience of other market areas from his previous job and he sees customer expectations to be somewhat different in North America.
“A specific difference is that we deliver our pulp directly to the customers’ production sites. Many customers here run with fairly lean stock, so it’s crucial that we’re able to provide on-time deliveries. Being flexible and adaptive in this sense is one way of differentiating ourselves from competitors,” Royer notes.
Considering other competitive advantages, he also highlights UPM’s entire sustainability story and sustainable forestry operations in Uruguay.
“Most of our customers sell directly to consumers so it’s very important they can source products from a supplier with a good sustainability track record. And we have the data to prove it – for example our latest platinum score in the EcoVadis responsibility assessment,” Royer points out.
Barker adds that one of UPM’s strengths is its service model, having a team with “boots on the ground” working in close contact with customers. Barker and Royer travel frequently, working mostly out of their home offices in Florida and Montreal respectively. The team also includes Monique Claverie, Senior Manager for Technical Marketing and Services, logistics coordinators Justin Pressley and Tisa Garcia as well as customer service specialists Claudia Perez and Hanna Taye. Administrative headquarters are located in UPM’s offices in Naperville, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
Opportunities in a growing market
Barker says the primary market in North America for UPM Euca pulp delivered from Uruguay is premium tissue products, for which he thinks the pulp is a perfect fit. The team has also begun to introduce softwood pulp produced in UPM’s Finnish mills to the marketplace. Here UPM’s technical support is on hand to help customers, for example, to find the optimal ratio for combining hardwood and softwood in the end product.
In general the team expects to see growth in its targeted end-use markets due to increasing consumer demand.
“There’s obviously fluctuation in pulp demand in the marketplace but increasing quality and sustainability requirements are good news for UPM. Another interesting development is how we’re continuing to see less pulp produced locally here in North America and more and more being imported,” Royer says.
“I believe we have every opportunity to become the premier eucalyptus pulp supplier in North America. We have a great brand and sustainability reputation, quality products and customer support, and strong support from the organisation. Also in softwood we can provide unique value for specific end uses,” Barker adds.
Building a global reach
Looking forward, Barker wants to emphasise the importance of teaming up with customers who are ‘in it for the long term’ and want to grow together with UPM.
“Our purpose here is to optimise our North American offering by bringing all necessary resources from UPM's global organisation to serve our customers and build long-lasting relationships,” Barker concludes.