Our Visit in Aracruz began in the evening after a half days travel from Linhares . We were welcomed once again by very warm and friendly families of Espirito Santo. The team was introduced to their families and then attended a delicious barbecue with more than enough food for all. It felt like a family reunion and gave us a chance to meet the Rotarians of this local district. THe next day started with a visit to a Zen Budhist Monetary; a remote area in the mountains with fresh water springs and a very relaxing vibe. We where shown around by a monk who gave us some insight on the budhist way of life- very relaxing. He explained that military and Fireman spend several days to meditate and train their mind.
Our next visit was to Granitos Litoral http://www.granitoslitoral.com.br/ where Director Adelio Cecato gave us a tour of their granite production facility. The buy granite from all over Brazil, cut, polish and sell mostly to the US which is 90% of their market. Their business is down by over 40% due to the slowdown in the states. It has leveled off and they are optimistic that things will improve. Espirito Santo is a major producer of granite slabs. They have 48 employees and it can take between 15 - 25 days to produce a slab of granite. Blocks of granite are loaded into large cutting machines that operate 24/7 and can take up to 48 hours to cut using a blade that cuts with steel shavings and a chemical compound that mixes with water.
After a quick lunch, we head for Metso http://www.metso.com/ that is a machine shop producer of industrial control valves and automation systems for oil, pulp, and natural gas companies. With oil being big and the largest pulp processing and shipping industry in all of Brazil here in Aracruz, they are very busy. They have 100 employees.
Next stop Fibria- Producer and exporter of eucalyptus pulp. We first stopped at the Portocel, where the Fiber is exported by massive ships the our loaded by the thousands of tons. Then into the actual plant itself. The smell was very similar to Albany on a hot summer day. The plant is responsible for more than 27 % of the global supply of the product. The Pulp exported is used to make paper products, i.e. toilet paper. That's a whole lot of wipe. The Pulp is obtained from 279,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantations and intermingled with 154,000 hectares of native forest reserves. We made a quick stop into check out the plant fire department which was manned by 10 firefighters 24 hours a day. That would be one nice working fire if some one happened to flick a cigarette in the Plant. Overall a very impressive company, on a very large scale. check their site out @ www.aracruz.com/home.do?lang=2. Tomorrow is back to Vitoria for a mid-term meeting and a repack, then off to Guarapari.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment