The Imatra mills, which is owned and operated by Stora Enso, produce premium packaging boards for use in the food, beverage and luxury industries
Stora Enso's head office is based in the Finnish capital of Helsinki and currently employs 26,000 across more than 50 sites (Credit: Stora Enso)
Finnish pulp and paper packaging giant Stora Enso has decided to invest in centralising and modernising the wood handling capacity at its Imatra mills in Finland.
The €80m ($96m) investment will enhance the firm’s production capabilities for premium packaging board, and supports its strategy of sustainable profitable growth through packaging in strong customer segments.
The investment is planned to start in the first quarter of 2021 and to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
Stora Enso’s executive vice president of its packaging materials division Hannu Kasurinen said: “Stora Enso’s packaging materials offering relies on the competitiveness of large and strong integrated mills such as at Imatra.
“Imatra is one of the world’s largest producers of liquid packaging board serving customers globally.
“From a long-term perspective, efficient and stable wood handling capacity is fundamental to both pulp and board production.”
Stora Enso investment to improve stability and efficiency at the Imatra mills
The Imatra mills produce premium packaging boards for use in the food, beverage and luxury industries.
The main purpose of the investment is to modernise the wood handling process in Imatra and centralise it in one of the existing wood yards.
This project also includes the installation of a new, third debarking line, improvements to chip handling systems, and modifications to the existing wood yard infrastructure.
The centralised and modernised wood handling capacity will improve the stability and efficiency of this process.
In addition, the new, more efficient debarking line will reduce water consumption of the process and lower the environmental impact.
The Imatra mills with its two production units, Kaukopää and Tainionkoski, are based in the south of Finland and have an annual production capacity of 1,195,000 tonnes of packaging board.
Additionally, the mill employs approximately 900 people, with Stora Enso investing over the past few years more than €200m ($242m) into the site.