Metsä Wood, the Wood Products Industry of Metsä Group, inaugurated the new Kerto® LVL line in Punkaharju, Finland, today, 28 May 2019. The decision on the investment of 65 000 cubic metre Kerto LVL line was made in December 2017, and the project proceeded in schedule to the start up in April 2019. About a hundred guests arrived to celebrate the event. Addresses were given by Janne Laine, The Mayor of Savonlinna, Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group and Juha Mäntylä, Executive Vice President of Metsä Wood.
Metsa Wood’s wood products play a key role in Metsa Group’s strategy. As a significant user of northern wood raw material and a forerunner in the bio- and circular economies, we manufacture products which store carbon for decades.
“Metsä Group’s aim is to create profitable growth by processing Finnish wood. Sustainability guides all our actions – we want to increase the amount of carbon stored in forests and its products, and that is why our biggest investments in recent years have been addressed to increase the production capacity of mechanical forest industry. The new line at Punkaharju is a great example of that,” stated Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO, in his opening speech.
Using sustainably produced Kerto LVL in construction is an act for the climate. Particularly big growth potential for the products produced in Punkaharju lies in industrial wood construction.
“The share of wood in construction as a whole is still rather small. The market’s size, however, is very big. We are Europe’s biggest LVL producer, and thanks to our five production lines, our level of service is outstanding. We have 40 years of experience in the production and sales of Kerto LVL and in serving customers – something that no-one else has,” told Juha Mäntylä, EVP, Metsä Wood.
The Punkaharju investment also has a big impact on employment rate in the area.
“This investment is very important to the South Savo area. The project was planned in collaboration between the city of Savonlinna and Metsä Wood. It is very important to create new jobs – it supports the area’s vitality. With this investment, Savonlinna is now Finland's largest centre of mechanical forest industry,” said Janne Laine, The Mayor of Savonlinna.
The production capacity of Punkaharju’s new Kerto LVL line is 65 000 cubic metres and the value of the investment is 52 million euros. The growing production increases the use of spruce logs by 160 000 cubic metres per year. The new line is expected to reach full production capacity within two years from the start up.