Press Release - 2 March 2026
New machine with an annual capacity of 70,000 tons will support operations in the United Kingdom
The Navigator Company has approved an investment of around €115 million in the installation of a new tissue paper production machine at the Aveiro industrial complex, with an annual capacity of 70,000 tonnes. The unit will support the operation acquired in the United Kingdom in 2024 and strengthen the Group's industrial integration in this segment, consolidating its growth strategy in Europe.
As part of its growth and internationalisation strategy in the Tissue segment, Navigator has made a series of acquisitions in recent years that have significantly strengthened its industrial scale, geographical diversification and competitive positioning in this business unit.
Maintaining its ambition to grow profitably and sustainably through organic expansion - with increased capacity and new product development - and selective growth through M&A operations, in 2025 the Company began a feasibility study for the installation of this new tissue paper production machine. Following this study, the final investment decision was made to install the new machine at the Aveiro site. This new equipment is intended to supply the UK operation, acquired in 2024, whose converting unit, which currently does not produce its own reels, has the capacity to process around 130,000 tonnes per year.
The strategic rationale behind the project is to create a more vertically integrated operation, balancing reel production with converting needs. This solution reduces exposure to the risk associated with purchasing external reels, improves efficiency and enhances the sustainability of the process, furthering Navigator's position in the European tissue market. It will also enable the development of products more aligned with the needs of customers in the United Kingdom, taking advantage of sustainable integration with the forest in Portugal.
Since the construction of the first machine, the Aveiro industrial complex has been ready to receive a second tissue machine, benefiting from the sharing of assets with the existing operation. In addition, the integration of pulp at the site itself reduces the associated impact of pulp drying and transport and steam supply, and the location next to the TM1 machine in Aveiro also enables efficiency gains in terms of human resources.
The start of operation is scheduled for March 2028. The total investment
amounts to around €115 million (€48 million in 2026, €53 million in 2027 and
€14 million in 2028) and will benefit from support under the Portugal 2030
programme.
About The Navigator CompanyThe Navigator Company is an integrated producer of forest, pulp, paper, tissue, sustainable packaging solutions and bioenergy, whose activity is based on state-of-the-art factories worldwide, with cutting-edge technology. It is recognised as a benchmark for quality in the sector worldwide.
Inspired by people, their quality of life and the future of the planet, the Company is committed to creating sustainable value for its shareholders and society as a whole, leaving future generations a better planet through sustainable, natural, recyclable and biodegradable products and solutions that contribute to carbon sequestration, oxygen production, biodiversity protection, soil formation and the fight against climate change.
The Company's ongoing commitment and investment in improving its ESG performance is also reflected in positive external assessments by independent entities. Navigator was recognised by Sustainalytics as a '2025 ESG Industry Top-Rated Company', reaffirming its leadership in the forestry and paper sector. This recognition places the Company on the prestigious global list of '2025 ESG Top-Rated Companies', consolidating its position as one of the companies with the best environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices worldwide.
The raw material used by The Navigator Company comes from forests planted exclusively for this purpose. Every year, Navigator's nurseries have the capacity to grow more than 12 million trees. These nurseries - among the largest in Europe - produce more than 130 different species of trees and shrubs. Many of these, although not economically viable, are financed by the Company to conserve biodiversity and ensure the continuity of species.
The forests managed by The Navigator Company in Portugal have a carbon stock, excluding carbon in the soil, equivalent to 6.4 million tonnes of CO2, a figure that remains stable thanks to the sustainable management model followed by the Company.
The Group carries out vertically integrated forestry activities, with its own Forest and Paper Research Institute - RAIZ and is responsible for planting a vast area of forest in mainland Portugal (1.2% of the country's area), 100% certified by the FSC®1 e PEFC2 systems. It has an annual production capacity of 1.6 million tonnes of paper and 1.6 million tonnes of pulp. In tissue paper, Navigator has an annual production capacity of 165,000 tonnes and an annual processing capacity of 310,000 tonnes.
In 2025, 78% of the electricity generated by Navigator came from renewable sources. The Company is responsible for producing 3% of the electricity in Portugal, including 34% of the electricity produced in the country from biomass. Renewables also accounted for 80% of the primary energy consumed by the Company.
As part of the Group's growth, in 2023 The Navigator Company completed the acquisition of the Consumer Tissue business of Spain's Gomà-Camps, strengthening its strategic position in the Iberian tissue market and becoming the second largest player in the segment.
The expansion of this business area continued in 2024 with the acquisition of Accrol Group Holdings plc, one of the leading tissue manufacturers in the United Kingdom, strengthening Navigator's position in Western Europe.
On another front of its growth, at the end of 2021, The Navigator Company launched a new line of packaging products under the gKRAFT™ brand, with the aim of contributing to accelerating the transition from the use of plastic to the use of natural, sustainable, recyclable and biodegradable fibres, thus reaffirming once again its commitment to sustainability and environmental preservation.
In the same vein, in the second half of 2024, it inaugurated the first integrated production line for moulded eucalyptus cellulose parts, which will be launched under the gKRAFT™ Bioshield brand. With a production capacity of around 100 million units per year, this factory has become the largest in Southern Europe and one of the largest integrated units on the entire European continent.
The Company is the third largest exporter in Portugal and the largest generator of National Added Value, representing around 2.5% of national exports of goods and more than 30,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs. In 202, The Navigator Company had a turnover of €1,970 million. More than 90% of its products are sold outside Portugal and are destined for 117 countries.
1 FSC - Forest Stewardship Council® (License n.º FSC® - C010852)
2 PEFC - Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (License n.º PEFC/13-23-001)
Navigator was the first Portuguese company, and one of the first worldwide, to set an ambitious commitment to decarbonise its industrial complexes by 2035, anticipating national and European targets by 15 years. It is estimated that the implementation of all the initiatives in the Decarbonisation Roadmap will represent an investment of more than €350 million between 2019 and 2028.
In 2023, as a result of the investments made, Navigator decided to bring forward its interim emissions targets by three years, meaning that it will achieve the targets initially set for 2029 as early as 2026. In 2026, direct fossil CO2 emissions will be around 60% lower than in 2018, the reference year. In 2024, this reduction was already 41%.
This commitment reflects the responsible business management strategy which, in 2025, was awarded an 'A' rating in the CDP Climate Change and 'A' in the CDP Forest, recognising the Company's leadership in combating climate change and forest management, respectively.
At the end of 2022, The Navigator Company received approval for its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), affirming its leadership in sustainability and its ambition to find solutions to the climate challenge, in line with science.
It was also recognised with an 'A' rating by MSCI ESG Ratings, which aims to measure a company's
resilience to long-term ESG risks.
https://www.thenavigatorcompany.com
For further information, please contact: Lift ConsultingTânia Nascimento - tania.nascimento@lift.com.pt | +351 915 292 914
Catarina Carneiro de Brito - catarina.brito@lift.com.pt | +351 914 310 661