We have the courage to renew. Altogether, our investments since 2015 will be approximately 7 billion euros, including completed, ongoing and planned investments.
The growth and profitability prospects of all our businesses are good. In Sweden, we are increasing our folding boxboard capacity and tissue paper production in Mariestad. We are also conducting a pre-study related to the construction of a first commercial mill for producing Muoto™ packaging products on our Rauma mill site in Finland.
Metsä Group's new bioproduct mill in Kemi, Finland was started up in the autumn of 2023. The value of the investment is EUR 2.02 billion and it is the largest investment ever made by the Finnish forest industry in Finland.
The Kemi bioproduct mill employs directly approximately 250 people and, in its entire direct value chain, roughly 2,500 people in total. There is an increase of 1,500 people compared to the current situation. The employment impact in the construction phase was almost 10,000 person-years of which over half in Kemi.
The Kemi bioproduct mill produces some 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp a year as well as numerous other bioproducts. The annual pulpwood consumption of the new Kemi bioproduct mill is approximately 7.6 million cubic meters. The aim is to source the pulpwood for the mill from Finland. The bioproduct mill is the world top regarding to productional, environmental and energy efficiency. The mill does not use any fossil fuels at all and its self-sufficiency in electricity is 250%.
The environmental and water supply permits to the Kemi bioproduct mill were granted in December 2020 and the investment decision was made in February 2021. The construction phase took approximately two and a half years, and the mill was started up in September 2023.
Metsä Board is renewing the pulp mill of the Husum mill integrate in Sweden in two phases. The investment decision for the first phase of the reform was announced on December 1, 2020. The first phase was the construction of a new recovery boiler and turbine at the mill, which began production in December 2022. The second phase, to be decided later, the mill’s two existing fibre lines will be replaced by one new one. The investment to be made during 2019-2022 is worth a total of approximately EUR 360 million.
The mill's annual pulp capacity of approximately 750,000 tonnes will remain unchanged after the investments, but its cost competitiveness will improve significantly.
Metsä Board also invests EUR 210 million in increasing folding boxboard capacity at the Husum mill.The current annual capacity of the BM1 board machine is 400,000 tonnes of folding boxboard, which will increase to 600,000 tonnes after the investment. The ramp-up of additional capacity started in autumn 2023, and full production capacity is expected to be reached by the end of 2025.
The extension of Metsä Board’s Kemi paperboard mill came into operation on September 2023. The modernisation and bottleneck investments of the paperboard mill will increase the annual production capacity of white top kraftliner by around 40,000 tonnes to 465,000 tonnes. The integration of the bioproduct mill and the paperboard mill, as well as the modernisation of the paperboard mill’s production line, will considerably improve the paperboard mill’s water and energy efficiency. The investments will reduce the mill’s water consumption by 40 per cent and energy use by 5 per cent per tonne of paperboard produced.
In February 2023, Metsä Tissue decided to expand its production of fresh fibre tissue paper at the Mariestad mill in Sweden. The value of the investment, to be implemented in 2023–2025, is approximately EUR 370 million, making it one of the entire tissue paper industry’s largest investments in Europe. The volume of tissue paper production will increase from approximately 75,000 tonnes at present to around 145,000 tonnes per year. With the investment, Metsä Tissue will strengthen its position as a forerunner in tissue paper industry investments in Sweden and Scandinavia. By expanding local production, Metsä Tissue will on its part contribute to the security of supply of key hygienic tissue paper products. Mariestad mill will produce Nordic tissue paper brands such as Serla, Lambi and Katrin.
The mill expansion includes the construction of a new tissue paper machine, new converting lines, automated storage and new office facilities. The renewed mill will feature the best available technology, significantly improving environmental efficiency in terms of emissions into air and water as well as noise. The environmental efficiency goals will also be supported by increased fresh fibre production. The investment will add around 100 new jobs at the mill, and indirectly around 2,000 person-years during construction.
In June 2023, Metsä Wood decided to build a new Kerto LVL mill in Äänekoski, Finland, to produce beam and panel products used in the construction industry. Kerto LVL products significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings compared to many other materials. The value of the investment is EUR 300 million, and the mill is expected to begin production in late 2026.
The mill’s annual production capacity is approximately 160,000 cubic metres, which represents a 50 per cent increase in Metsä Group’s total Kerto LVL capacity. The new mill will use around 400,000 cubic metres of log procured from Finland.
The mill will be a global forerunner in its field in terms of its technology and efficiency. The new mill will have a direct employment impact of around 150 new jobs. It will also add some 200 jobs to its direct value chain. The employment impact of the construction phase is estimated to be approximately 1,000 person-years.
Metsä Board has launched a major investment programme to modernise the Simpele board mill, which will be implemented in phases over the next ten years. As part of the programme Metsä Board has made an investment decision to renew the folding boxboard machine at Simpele, which will improve the quality of folding boxboard and increase production efficiency. The investment will enable the replacement of fossil fuels in paperboard production, and supports Metsä Board's target of fossil free production at all its mills by the end of 2030.
The investment is expected to be completed in the second half of 2025. The investment value is approximately EUR 60 million, divided over the period 2024–2026.
The planned investment programme also includes renewals in the mechanical pulp production, in the finishing area as well as a new power plant. The company has not yet taken investment decisions on these.
Metsä Group has announced its plans for a significant investment program in its tissue paper business in the Mänttä mill to develop the sustainability of the operations and to modernize and extend the lifecycle of the mill. The investment plans are part of the tissue paper business’ Future mill strategy program aiming at world-class efficiency and environmental performance in tissue production. The planned program amounts to approximately EUR 100 million euros and the related investments are to be carried out over the period of next five years.
As part of the planned program, an investment in a new hand towel line has been initiated, which will produce fresh fibre based hand paper towels especially for the Finnish market. The line is planned to be operational during 2025.
