We invest in sustainable and profitable growth

Metsä Board has significant investments ongoing to meet the growing demand for sustainable and premium packaging materials. In 2021, we made decisions on two investments, which together will increase our annual paperboard capacity by around 240,000 tonnes. At the end of 2022, we started up a new recovery boiler and turbine at Husum. This will increase our self-sufficiency in electricity production, and further strengthen Husum’s position as a sustainable platform for the development of first-class paperboard production.

Husum pulp mill renewal, first phase

Metsä Board is renewing its Husum pulp mill in Sweden in two phases during the 2020s.

Renewal of the pulp mill will enable the long-term development and growth of the paperboard business at the Husum integrated mill. In addition, it will also develop Metsä Board’s competitive pulp and energy production and thus take the company towards 100% fossil free production.

In November 2020, Metsä Board received an amended environmental permit for the first phase of the renewal. The final investment decision for the first phase was made in December 2020. The first phase consists of a new recovery boiler and a new turbine with a total investment value of EUR 380 million.

In the second phase of the renewal, to be decided and implemented later during the 2020s, the two current fibre lines will be replaced with one new one.

The new modern equipment and processes will significantly increase the mill’s bio-based energy production and the integrates self-sufficiency will increase, with its electricity entirely based on renewable bioenergy. In addition, the use of heavy fuel as backup fuel will reduce, and by 2030, the necessary backup fuels will be replaced with renewable alternatives.

The start-up of the recovery boiler and turbine took place in December 2022.

Metsä Board Husum mill is an integrated board and pulp mill producing folding boxboard, white kraftliner, and bleached market pulp.

Folding boxboard capacity expansion in Husum

Metsä Board invests EUR 230 million in increasing folding boxboard capacity at the Husum mill in Sweden.

The investment strengthens Metsä Board's position as the leading producer of folding boxboard in Europe and meets the growing demand for sustainably produced packaging materials.

At present, the annual folding boxboard capacity of the paperboard machine BM1 is 400,000 tonnes, and after the investment it will rise to 600,000 tonnes.  Preparatory work for construction started in October 2021. The ramp-up of additional capacity is expected to start in Autumn 2023, and full production capacity is expected to be reached by the end of 2025.

Husum is a competitive integrate and the renewal of the pulp mill will further improve the mill's production efficiency and environmental performance. It provides an excellent platform for increasing paperboard production capacity in a sustainable way.

Metsä Board's premium lightweight folding boxboard is used, for example, in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics packaging, as well as in food service packaging.

Kemi paperboard development programme

Metsä Board's development programme for the white-top kraftliner mill in Kemi, announced in 2021, was completed in September 2023 at a total investment value of approximately EUR 110 million.

The development programme increases the mill's annual paperboard capacity by approximately 40,000 tonnes. The programme included a series of modernisation and bottleneck investments in the paperboard production line. As part of the programme, Metsä Board purchased the modernised unbleached pulp production line with an annual capacity of approximately 180,000 tonnes from Metsä Fibre in 2023.

The investment will significantly reduce water and energy consumption at the Kemi paperboard mill, and is an important step towards Metsä Board’s ambitious sustainability targets. This also supports Metsä Board’s customers' sustainable business. The development programme will reduce the Kemi paperboard mill’s water consumption by about 40%, and energy consumption by about 5% per tonne of paperboard produced.

After the investment, Metsä Board's leading global position in coated white kraftliners will be further strengthened, and Metsä Fibre's new bioproduct mill together with Metsä Board's paperboard mill, will form a world class integrate in Kemi, Finland.

Pre-engineering started for new folding boxboard mill in Kaskinen, Finland

Metsä Board announced in May 2022 that it will explore possibilities to increase folding boxboard capacity in Finland or Sweden in order to support its customers’ growth and to strengthen its service capability. As result of the study, the company will start pre-engineering for a new folding boxboard mill with an annual capacity of approximately 800,000 tonnes at the Kaskinen mill site in Finland.

The pre-engineering phase will include technical design, design of infrastructure and logistics solutions and tendering for the main equipment. As part of the pre-engineering, an environmental impact assessment and an environmental permit process will be launched. The company estimates that a possible investment decision could be made in 2024 at the earliest.

The pre-engineering for the new folding boxboard mill is based on fossil-free production and world-class resource and production efficiency. Thanks to the best available technology, the consumption of raw materials, energy and water per tonne of folding boxboard produced would be significantly lower when compared with the existing mills. The product concept would benefit from Metsä Board's long-term development work in the production of premium lightweight paperboards.