It was the year 1792 when the Miquel family started the manual manufacture of paper in a mill powered by the waters of the Anoia river in Capellades. Almost from the beginning, the company assumed an international role. First in Cuba and then in Latin America. Today, with the company in the hands of the Mercader family, international business represents 88.5% of total sales.
The paper company is immersed in a three-year investment plan that ends this year and that amounts to 100 million euros. The resources are for environmental improvements, technological innovation and increased production capacity. “Miquel y Costas works to produce special papers destined to progressively replace plastic”, reflects Jordi Mercader Barata, executive vice president.
In the environmental chapter, the group will dedicate five million to install solar panels in all its plants. The investment plan also contemplates an investment of 25 million in a technological project to innovate the production process in one of the MB Papeles Especiales machines, in La Pobla de Claramunt. There, special papers are produced for the food industry, car batteries and decorative laminate.
The company is also working on the development of RRPs (Reduced Risk Products) papers for tobacco. They are products that are less harmful to health than normal papers. "The tobacco industry continues to be the first market for Miquel y Costas with 57.6% of revenue, while industrial products represent 34.1% of turnover, and other products the rest," according to the executive vice president. . "However, it is important to underline that the percentage occupied by the tobacco industry has been decreasing over the last few years, to the benefit of industrial products," he adds. More than a decade ago, the tobacco market represented 75% of sales.
Another of the lines of work that is reorienting the business mix is making tea bags compostable. During the first quarter of 2023, the group expects a significant improvement in its results, which should continue throughout the second quarter, as long as the volatility of demand and energy costs do not exceed current levels. As for the whole of 2023, the perspective is to return to the historical levels of profitability that the group reached. Dividends paid in 2022 have been a total of 16.1 million compared to 15.5 million in 2021.
Last year the group closed with a net profit of 31.6 million euros, 37.7% less than in 2021. "This decrease is mainly due to the continuous escalation of prices in energy, pasta and other raw materials, as well as the geopolitical tensions derived from the war in Ukraine that have made international trade difficult, as well as the deterioration of the commercial relationship between Spain and Algeria”, explains Mercader Barata. Consolidated sales reached 337.2 million euros, 11.9% more due to the updating of prices negotiated with customers, as explained by the group.
“With a history that goes back to the beginning of the 18th century, Miquel y Costas defines itself today as a company whose purpose is to apply the necessary knowledge to cellulose to provide society with products that meet their needs, improve the environment and collaborate to the sustainability of the planet”, defines Mercader Barata.
