By 2023 Metsä Group will invest about €2 billion in the development of business projects for wood processing

Metsä Group continues to implement its strategy and begins preliminary development of engineering projects related to the construction of a new plant for the production of biological products in Kemi and a new sawmill in Rauma in Finland, as well as the start of the first stage of modernization of the pulp mill Husum in Sweden. After the implementation of the projects during 2019-2023, the cost of investments will be about €2 billion.

After the implementation of investment projects in Kemi and Rauma, the annual income of Finland will grow by about €0.6 billion, and exports – by €0.7 billion, new jobs will be created for 2 thousand people.

In Kemi, the company plans to build a new plant for the production of products with an annual production capacity of about 1.5 million tons of softwood and hardwood pulp. According to Metsä Fiber, which conducted a preliminary feasibility study, the annual consumption of pulpwood at the new plant will be about 7.6 million cubic meters, which is approximately 4.5 million cubic meters more than the demand of the existing Metsä plant in Kemi. Potential consumers of the products are European and Asian companies, as well as Metsä Board. The total investment will be about €1.5 billion. The final decision on the start of the project will be made by the summer of 2020.

Metsä Fibre also started pre-project preparation for the construction of a sawmill in Rauma. The estimated annual production will be about 750 thousand cubic meters. The total investment will be about € 200 million. The annual consumption of the plant about 1.5 million cubic meters. It is planned that wood for the sawmill will be supplied from Finland. Lumber will be sold to European and Asian buyers. The final investment decision for the Rauma sawmill is expected in early 2020.

Metsä Board has completed the preliminary feasibility study for the renovation of the Husum integrate pulp mill in Sweden and has started the preliminary design of the first phase. It is planned to build a new waste heat boiler and turbine to replace the old waste heat boilers and turbines. These investments will amount to approximately €300 million, and they will be implemented during 2019-2022. it is Planned to replace two fiber processing lines with one during the implementation of the second stage of modernization in the 2020s. The annual capacity of Husum pulp mill, which is approximately 750 thousand tons, will remain almost unchanged, but its cost competitiveness will increase significantly. The final investment decision related to the first stage of renovation of Husum pulp mill should be made in Q4 2019.

The article uses information from the press service of Metsä Group