The Varkaus site is involved in the production of unbleached softwood pulp, as well as brown and white top containerboard for corrugated board
Stora Enso has announced €23m investment to increase Varkaus containerboard mill capacity. (Credit: Pixabay)
Stora Enso has announced an investment of €23m to increase the flexibility and capacity at its Varkaus containerboard mill in Finland.
The investment will allow the company to increase the flexibility of the product range for customers, in addition to expanding the site’s total capacity by up to 10%.
Part of Stora Enso’s packaging materials division, the Varkaus site is involved in the production of unbleached softwood pulp, as well as brown and white top containerboard for corrugated boards or kraftliners.
At present, the mill is said to use about one-third of the total board packaging recycled in Finland as its raw material.
The current investment is expected to further increase the use of recycled fibre on the site.
Stora Enso Varkaus packaging board mill director Jarkko Tehomaa said: “The investment will increase the capacity of our recycled fibre site and give us the flexibility to increase the use of recycled fibre in our portfolio.
“The investment will also improve production efficiency through technical changes in both the board machine and the pulp mill drying machine. Also, our flexibility to offer different product grades to customers improves and the capacity of the site increases slightly.”
The company will immediately commence the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and the updating of the environmental permit, as well as the preparatory work for the investment related to the mill.
Stora Enso will continue its investment while the site is in normal operation. The final installations will be performed following the annual maintenance shutdown at the site in late autumn 2022.
With around 400 employees, the Varkaus site holds the capacity to produce 450,000 tonnes of packaging board per annum. The site also manufactures pulp, sawn timber and veneer wood.