Rauma sawmill is integrated with Metsä Fibre’s pulp mill on the same site. The synergies of the integration will be exploited not only in energy production and sidestream use, but also in logistics and services procured from partners.
Metsä Fibre produces sawn timber and pulp from softwood at the Rauma integrated mill. The side streams from production include bioenergy, tall oil, turpentine, bark, wood chips and sawdust.
Our mills form an efficient integrated unit that will support the transition to fossil-free production.
A fossil-free future
Thanks to integrated operation, the new sawmill does not need its own power plant.
“The sawmill’s by-products are transported by conveyors to the pulp mill, which uses the wood chips from the sawmill for pulp production. The bark and sawdust are used to produce bioenergy. The sawmill uses the electrical and thermal energy generated in the pulp mill’s production process,” Project Director Harri Haapaniemi explains.
The sawmill investment also supports Metsä Fibre’s 2030 sustainability objectives: building the sawmill next to the pulp mill will enable both mills to operate entirely without fossil fuels in the future.
Responsible logistics
The location of the integrated mill, just three kilometres from the port of Rauma, means smooth logistics of sawn timber to customers by sea.
The sawmill does not have its own warehouses. The finished sawn timber is transported directly from the sawmill to the port in packages. Euroports Finland is responsible for the sawn timber operation at the port.
The sawmill and the pulp mill will also cooperate in road transport of wood and finished products.
“The equipment used represents state-of-the-art technology. More end products will be transported in each load to customers. Larger loads reduce the number of trips required, which is good for the environment,” says Haapaniemi.
Automatic loading of sawn timber for transport
Automatic loading at Metsä Fibre’s Rauma sawmill is a first for the sawmill industry. Conventional forklift loading will become obsolete when finished packages of sawn timber passing through packing and dispatching are transferred to lorries automatically.
The equipment and system supplier for the new loading concept is Finnish Raumaster Paper, which has long experience of providing solutions for the sawmill and pulp industry.
The loading process starts when the finished bundles of sawn timber come from the packing unit and land on a 20-metre roller conveyor line. Conveyors move the packages towards a chain conveyor line, which takes them close to the loading station.
At the loading station, the packages are sorted on the conveyors so that they are ready for loading and guided forward by loading bars, of which the Rauma sawmill has fourteen. The lorry waits for the packages at its designated loading point, and the packages are then loaded under the supervision of the driver.
The consignment notes are automatically sent through the system to the customer, the port, and the transport company.
This article was originally published in Timber Magazine issue 2022-2023.