Metsä Spring’s portfolio company Montinutra starts pre-engineering for a new production plant to be situated at Metsä Group’s Vilppula sawmill site in Mänttä-Vilppula, Finland. The main raw material at the planned production plant is sawdust, a side-stream from the sawmill.
Montinutra produces valuable ingredients for personal care, chemical, food and beverage industries. Montinutra business model focuses on using side-streams, such as sawdust, wood processing residues or bark, as the feedstock. The production process is based on pressurised hot water extraction without extensive use of chemicals. This enables robust and cost-effective production of natural products with minimal environmental burden. As the products will replace fossil-based ingredients, significant CO2 emissions are avoided.
Montinutra is currently in the process of building a financing package for the planned investment. The company has recently been granted a Circular Economy Investment Subsidy by Business Finland, which forms a significant part of the said package. The plant pre-engineering and permitting processes are now starting. The investment cost, related to the planned production plant, is estimated to be approximately EUR 20 million and the plant, when operational, would employ up to 35 people.
Readiness to make the possible final investment decision is expected to be achieved during autumn 2023. Assuming that the conditions for the final investment decision are met, the plant can start operating earliest in 2025.
For further information, please contact:
Katariina Kemppainen, SVP, Group R&D, Metsä Spring Oy, tel. +358 50 375 2212