Following the investment, the packaging board production capacity at Skoghall can be increased by approximately 100,000 TPA to a total capacity exceeding 900,000 TPA. The project is slated to be concluded by the second half of 2023.
October 26, 2021
Stora Enso has announced an investment of around USD 112.56 million (EUR 97 million) to expand the board production at its Skoghall mill site in Sweden. In addition, the packaging company is initiating a pre-feasibility study in order to convert the second line, which is currently idle, at its Oulu site in Finland, to a packaging board line.
The proposed investment in Skoghall is projected to further provide an impetus to attain profitable growth in attractive end-use segments, such as liquid packaging board and coated unbleached kraft. The project is expected to be completed by the second half of 2023. After the execution of the project, the packaging board production capacity at Skoghall can be increased by approximately 100,000 TPA to a total capacity exceeding 900,000 TPA.
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The investment decision has been made after the conclusion of the feasibility study which was announced in November 2020. The board expansion in the Skoghall site will be carried through debottlenecking of one of the existing production lines.
After the successful transformation in the Oulu site from paper to kraftliner production, Stora Enso has decided to initiate a pre-feasibility study to convert the second, idle paper line into a packaging board line. The conversion would further improve the Oulu site’s competence, with integrated pulp availability, additional fixed and variable cost savings, and the ability to utilise the adjacent deep-sea harbour. The pre-feasibility study will be completed in early 2022.
Hannu Kasurinen, EVP Stora Enso’s Packaging Materials division, remarks, “Skoghall is one of our key integrated production sites for eco-friendly packaging materials. The investment strengthens Stora Enso’s capability to produce high-quality and cost-competitive consumer board grades within the growing core segments of liquid and food packaging. In Oulu, the ramp-up of the first converted production line has been successfully executed.”
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Presently, the total production of boards at the Skoghall site surpasses 800,000 TPA.
Oulu site is a key producer of kraftliner producer in northern Finland. In early 2021, one of the two former paper machines was transformed into kraftliner for consumer packaging applications. When fully ramped up, the capacity of the first line is 450 000 TPA of kraftliner and 550 000 TPA of pulp.
