Displaying items by tag: Metsä

Metsä Group’s Kemi mills are getting ready for a maintenance and connection shutdown to prepare for the deployment of the largest ever investment of the forest industry in Finland  the new bioproduct mill and paperboard mill expansion in Kemi.

The shutdown will begin on Sunday, 10 September 2023, and the aim is to start up the mills on 20 September 2023.

During shutdown, odours may occur, and there may be temporary traffic congestion around the mill area, especially at the beginning of the week starting on 11 September. Odours may also occur before the shutdown due to preparations for the bioproduct mill's start-up.

The work carried out prior to start-up will ensure the mills come online smoothly and safely. During the shutdown, the existing pulp mill will be safely shut down, the paperboard mill’s new investments will be deployed, and the connections between the new bioproduct mill and the paperboard mill will be finalised.

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The new Kemi bioproduct mill will annually produce some 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp and many other bioproducts, including 2 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity. The mill features world-class production, environmental and energy efficiency, and despite the considerable increase in production capacity, the mill’s emissions are lower than the limits specified in the currently valid environmental permit for the existing Kemi pulp mill. 

At the Kemi paperboard mill, renewal and bottleneck investments have been carried out to increase the annual production capacity of white top kraftliner by approximately 40,000 tonnes. The investments will reduce the mill’s water consumption by 40 per cent and energy use by 5 per cent per tonne of paperboard produced. 

The investments are a major step towards Metsä Group’s 2030 sustainability targets and will support our customers’ sustainable business.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 7 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in around 30 countries. We promote a culture of diversity, equality and inclusion. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by over 90,000 forest owners. 

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Metsä Group’s innovation company Metsä Spring is developing a new method for using Metsä Group’s softwood pulp to produce the Kuura textile fibre. Adjustments to the original production method and equipment are now being made at the Äänekoski demo plant, which has been operating since late 2020. The development work at the demo plant will then continue in the early summer.

2023 03 27 085833The global demand for textile fibres has continued to grow after a market disruption caused by the pandemic. Interest has been shown especially in sustainably produced textile fibres that replace materials made out of oil, natural gas and cotton. Metsä Group’s Kuura textile fibre, currently under development, is one of these sustainable alternatives. In addition to having a strong connection to sustainably grown Finnish wood raw material from family-owned forests, Kuura benefits from its integration with an efficient bioproduct mill and offers a particularly small environmental footprint.

“We ended up making changes to our original project plan. We mainly need to make changes to the process chemistry, which also calls for equipment improvements. I believe the changes will give a considerable boost to our development work,” says Niklas von Weymarn, CEO of Metsä Spring.

The goal of Metsä Spring’s Kuura project is to develop a competitive concept that will enable Metsä Group to consider the commercial production of the textile fibre. This would also require the construction of the first commercial mill. The prerequisites for this will be assessed in 2024. The idea is to construct the first commercial mill in Finland. The planning of the mill’s technical concept has already been started.

In addition to developing the production method of the Kuura textile fibre, we are also collecting customer feedback. This customer collaboration is done by Itochu. The Japanese general trading and investment company Itochu is one of the world’s leading players in the textile sector, with around 100 offices in more than 60 countries.

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Last June, Metsä Board announced the Better with Less – Design Challenge. Now is the final call to enter.

The Better with Less – Design Challenge 2022 is inviting designers around the world to create the zero-waste packaging of the future. The competition is open for submissions for another four weeks, until 1 December, 2022.

The world-class jury of renowned package design experts will be looking for lighter, smarter, and circular solutions for some of the most common consumer packages. Says the competition chairman, Ilkka Harju: “We want to discover innovative, fit-for-purpose designs for all types of packaging that have circularity as starting point for design. This is a great opportunity to get your ideas seen and to make your mark on the circular packaging of the future.“

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The competition jury includes:

Andrew Gibbs, Founder & Editor in Chief, The Dieline

Ben Parker, Co-founder of creative design studio Made Thought

Brandi Parker, Head of Sustainability, Pearlfisher

Brian Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Collins

Carin Blidholm Svensson, Creative Director & Founder, BVD

Diana Sanchez, Visual Design Associate Manager, Accenture Song

Jennifer Patrick, Global Packaging & Brand Director, Patagonia

Sian Sutherland, Co-founder, Plastic Planet

Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director EMEA and APAC, Metsä Board and the jury chairman

The jury will award the three best zero-waste packaging designs with EUR 10,000, EUR 3,000 and EUR 2,000 prizes. For student participants there will be an additional award - an internship at the company’s Excellence Centre in Finland.

The Better with Less – Design Challenge is an initiative to inspire packaging designers all over the world to create packaging solutions that could have a big impact on the world – while reducing the impact of packaging on the environment. The previous Better with Less – Design Challenge inspired entries from 28 countries to contribute their work and showcase their environmentally-friendly packaging solutions. The competition is organised by a leading European paperboard producer Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group.

For more information and to enter: www.betterwithless.org

Better with Less – Design Challenge in social media: Twitter and Instagram

Metsä Board
https://www.metsagroup.com/metsaboard

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards. We focus on lightweight and high-quality folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners. The pure fresh fibres we use in our products are a renewable and recyclable resource, that can be traced back to sustainably managed northern forests. We are a forerunner in sustainability, and we aim to have completely fossil free mills and raw materials by the end of 2030.

Together with our customers we develop innovative packaging solutions to create better consumer experiences with less environmental impact. In 2021 our sales totaled EUR 2.1 billion, and we have around 2,400 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Metsä Group
https://www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group leads the way in the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, developing bioproducts and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, and tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales is approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forest: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners.

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Metsä Group’s innovation company Metsä Spring Ltd. and Japanese Itochu Corporation establish a joint venture, which invests approximately EUR 40 million in building and operating a test plant, with the aim to demonstrate a new technology for converting paper-grade pulp into textile fibres. Business Finland, a Finnish governmental funding agency, participates in the financing of the demo project with an R&D loan. 

The textile fibre demo plant will be located next to Metsä Group’s bioproduct mill in Äänekoski, Finland. Construction of the demo plant, with an annual capacity of about 500 tonnes, begins in October 2018 and it is planned to be started up in late 2019. The general engineering partner is Sweco.

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”With the plant, and the demonstration project related to it, we aim to prove the technical feasibility of the new textile fibre production technology. Based on the results of the demonstration project, we can then evaluate the technical and economic realities of building a clearly larger plant in Finland in the future. During the demonstration project, which is expected to last two to three years from the start-up of the plant, we will also gather customer feedback related to the new fibres,” comments CEO of Metsä Spring Niklas von Weymarn.

The new technology to be studied and further developed in the demo project is based on direct dissolution using a novel solvent for the pulp dissolution stage. Metsä Group’s wet paper-grade pulp will be used as the raw material. The new technology is estimated to be more environmentally-friendly than the textile fibre production technologies currently in use. The basis for the new technology has been developed in joint research programmes, starting in 2009. The main collaborators, in terms of development of the technology, include Aalto University, University of Helsinki, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and TITK from Germany. Metsä Group’s own active development work started in 2012.

The textile fibre demo plant is the first investment of Metsä Spring, established in May 2018. Metsä Spring invests together with partners in new endeavours with the target to identify and develop new business opportunities within the sustainable forest-based bioeconomy and circular economy.

Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and cooking papers.

Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.0 billion in 2017, and it employs approximately 9,100 people. The Group operates in nearly 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 104,000 Finnish forest owners.

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Katrinefors Kraftvärme AB (KKAB), a 50/50 joint venture owned by Metsä Tissue, part of Metsä Group, and the local municipal energy company VänerEnergi AB, will build a new biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plant in Mariestad, Sweden, in conjunction with the Metsä Tissue mill. This will be the second bioenergy plant operated by KKAB.

The construction of the new plant will start in April 2013. The plant is expected to be operating by the end of 2014. The total investment will amount to approximately 30 million euros of which Metsä Tissue’s share will be 50 per cent.

According to Mark Watkins, SVP Tissue Scandinavia, KKAB’s new bioenergy plant is an important step in increasing the share of bioenergy. In Metsä Group, the share of wood-based bioenergy is high, as over 80 per cent of all the used fuel is biomass.

Increasing the share of bioenergy is one of the key activities in Metsä Group’s efforts to mitigate climate change and reduce fossil CO2 emissions. Metsä Group’s target is to reduce fossil-based CO2 emissions by 30 per cent per product tonne by 2020 from the 2009 level.

The new bioenergy production reduces significantly, even as much as 90 per cent, Metsä Tissue Mariestad mill’s oil usage. The new power plant will decrease Mariestad mill’s CO2 emissions by approximately 6,000 tonnes, i.e. by 30 per cent from the present. Currently oil is used to cover wintertime peak in heat demand and as reserve fuel.

The new biomass CHP plant will be composed of an approximately 28 MW biomass boiler to produce heat and approximately 7 MW turbine to produce electricity. The biomass fuels consist of energy wood and the mill’s recycled fibre residues.

In addition to producing electricity and heat to Mariestad mill, the plant will provide renewable energy for the surrounding community in the form of district heating and bio-based grid electricity.

METSÄ GROUP
Group Communications

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Metsä Board Corporation Financial Statements 1 January–31 December 2012, 7 February 2013 at 12:00 noon

Full year result for 2012

-Sales were EUR 2,108 million (Q1–Q4/2011: 2,485).

-The operating result excluding non-recurring items was EUR 74 million (59). The operating result including non-recurring items was EUR 220 million (-214).

-The result before taxes excluding non-recurring items was EUR 30 million (0). The result before taxes including non-recurring items was EUR 176 million (-281).

-Earnings per share excluding non-recurring items were EUR 0.13 (0.02) and including non-recurring items EUR 0.53 (-0.83).

-The Board of Directors proposes that a dividend of 0.06 euros per share be distributed for the financial year 2012.

 

 Result for the fourth quarter of 2012

-Sales were EUR 509 million (Q3/2012: 532).

-The operating result excluding non-recurring items was EUR 25 million (25). The operating result including non-recurring items was EUR 41 million (22).

-The result before taxes excluding non-recurring items was EUR 12 million (10). The result before taxes including non-recurring items was EUR 27 million (8).

-Earnings per share excluding non-recurring items were EUR 0.08 (0.02) and including non-recurring items EUR 0.13 (0.02).

Events in the fourth quarter of 2012

-Delivery volumes decreased from the previous quarter mainly due to seasonal reasons.

-Average price of linerboard increased. Pulp price took an upward turn. The average prices of folding boxboard and papers declined slightly.

-The new biopower plant owned by Pohjolan Voima and Leppäkosken Sähkö was commissioned at Metsä Board Kyro mill.

Events after the period

The Alizay mill site in France, including machines, equipment and buildings, was sold to Conseil General de l’Eure for EUR 22 million.

“The operating result excluding non-recurring items in the last quarter of 2012 was at the third quarter level, as expected. Folding boxboard delivery volumes were at a normal level, although slightly lower than in the previous quarter due to seasonal effects. Demand for linerboard continued to be strong, and the price increase had a positive impact on the result in the last quarter of the year. The price of pulp also increased, and demand was good in the last quarter. Instead, demand for and price level of papers decreased in Europe, which weakened the profitability of our paper production.

The year 2012 was a significant milestone for our company. We successfully completed our strategic review, launched in 2006, which has resulted in the transformation of the company from a paper producer to the leading paperboard company. The measures to eliminate the last heavy losses of our paper operations were successfully completed. In the fall of 2012, we completed our EUR 120 million investment programme, related to which we increased our annual folding boxboard capacity by approximately 150,000 tonnes, modernized  the Kemi linerboard mill, and increased the use of bioenergy in our production.

Our main targets for the year 2013 are the full utilisation of our expanded folding boxboard capacity, development and expansion of our current paperboard product portfolio and improvement of the profitability and cash flow of the paper and market pulp units”.

Mikko Helander, CEO

Near-term outlook

Folding boxboard delivery volumes in the last quarter of 2012 were at a normal level, although seasonally slightly lower than in the previous quarter. Folding boxboard order volumes are expected to gradually improve at the beginning of the year and delivery volumes to increase slightly in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the previous quarter. As a result of the completed annual folding boxboard contract negotiations the volumes are increasing in 2013 compared to 2012 and no material price changes are expected.

Demand for linerboard is expected to continue to be very strong, and delivery volumes are expected to increase slightly in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the previous quarter. No significant changes are expected in the price of linerboard in the coming months.

Delivery volumes of uncoated fine paper are expected to increase slightly in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the previous quarter, and delivery volumes of pulp are expected to be at the previous quarter level. No considerable changes are on the horizon in the price of uncoated fine paper. The currency-denominated price increase of long-fibre pulp is expected to continue at the beginning of the year.

The market situation of coated paper has weakened further since the year end, and delivery volumes and prices are expected to decrease slightly in the first quarter of 2013.

Production costs are expected to increase slightly in the first quarter of 2013, compared to the previous quarter, primarily due to increased energy costs.

Metsä Board’s operating result for the first quarter of 2013, excluding non-recurring items, is expected to improve slightly from the fourth quarter of 2012.

Disclosure procedure

Metsä Board Corporation follows the disclosure procedure enabled by Standard 5.2b published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority and hereby publishes its Financial Statements 2012 enclosed to this stock exchange release. Metsä Board's complete Financial Statements is attached to this release in pdf-format and is also available on the company's web site at www.metsaboard.com.

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logoMetsä Board Corporation, part of Metsä Group, announced in March 2012 the start of a voluntary reindustrialization project in Alizay mill in France. The project is carried out jointly by Metsä Board, workers’ representatives and local authorities.

Negotiations regarding the divestment of the land, buildings and machinery of the Alizay mill have proceeded, but unlike discussed in certain public medias, an agreement on the divestment has not been signed. If the negotiations proceed well, it is possible that the arrangement will materialize by year end. This will be announced separately.

Metsä Board permanently closed down the Alizay site in early 2012 as part of the group’s strategic transformation from a fine paper company to a paperboard company.

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Metsä Board Corporation, part of Metsä Group, organizes a Capital Market’s Day on September 19, 2012 in London, UK. The event is organized on invitational basis forlogo analysts. The focus of the day will be on Metsä Board’s growth potential in the traditional European and North American markets as well as in the fast growing Asian markets.

The event will be organized in the premises of Metsä Board’s highly valued cartonboard customer Unilever, a leading global consumer goods company. As part of the Capital Market’s Day, participants will get an insight on the role of sustainable and high quality packaging as well as the importance of a close partnership with a paperboard supplier and a customer in the global consumer goods business.

Presentation materials will be available on Metsä Board's website www.metsaboard.com on 19 September 2012 by 13 p.m. EET.

METSÄ BOARD CORPORATION

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Wednesday, 12 September 2012 09:28

Change in Metsä Board’s Corporate Management Team

logoMika Paljakka (43), who has held the Corporate Management Team position of SVP, Human Resources of Metsä Board Corporation, part of Metsä Group, has been appointed Sales Director, Cartonboards, USA. Paljakka will be located in the Metsä Board’s US sales office and he will report to Jorma Sahlstedt, SVP, Paperboard sales, USA.

Susanna Tainio, VP, Human Resources, (37) is responsible for Metsä Board’s human resources related matters as of today.

From now on Metsä Board’s Corporate Management Team is the following:

- Mikko Helander, CEO

- Matti Mörsky, CFO

- Pasi Piiparinen, SVP, Head of Paperboard business area

- Seppo Puotinen, SVP, Head of Paper and Pulp business area

- Sari Pajari, SVP, Supply Chain and Business Development

- Jani Suomalainen, SVP, Purchasing

METSÄ BOARD CORPORATION

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Tuesday, 11 September 2012 13:50

Metsä's New urban eating with Snack & Pack

Metsä Tissue and Metsä Board contributed to creating a tastier, more sustainable street food culture by taking part in Snack & Pack, an experimental project organised as part of Helsinki’s World Design Capital 2012 programme.

Snack & Pack brought together top chefs, designers and food industry experts to brainstorm fresh ideas for healthier, visually appealing street kitchen dishes. With an emphasis on locally-grown organic food and eco-friendliness, the teams set about redesigning the whole street food experience, renewing not only the flavours and ingredients, but also the packaging design.

snack

The results can be enjoyed in test kitchens at various cultural events through autumn. Talented young chefs including Arto Rastas, Sami Tallberg and Mikko Pölkki have put together a mouth-watering menu of nutritious ecological snacks served in visually innovative packaging, such as toasted rye-spelt wraps in grill paper pockets and crispy vegetable chips in paper boats with attractive board sleeves.

Metsä Tissue’s SAGA Cooking Paper brand jumped at the chance to take part in the project. “It was perfect for our image, because the SAGA brand’s mission is all about creating a new cooking culture. SAGA will have its official Finnish launch next year, so now is a good time to start increasing our visibility at mass consumer events,” says SAGA’s Marketing Director Jenni Kujala.

Metsä Board took an immediate interest in exploring new ways of using cartonboard for street kitchen applications and combining it with SAGA Cooking Paper. “The sleeve is quite simple as a packaging, but it is also a postcard that you can detach and send,” says Metsä Board VP of Marketing Communications, Katri Kauppila.

The project was a good occasion for Metsä Board to demonstrate the design potential and excellent printability of Carta Solida, she adds. “We were also happy to work with young designers and creative chefs.”

Earlier this year, the new packaging prototypes and dishes had their debut at Helsinki’s Restaurant Day, a food carnival where anyone can open a restaurant for a day. R&D continued through summer and the second major test run took place during Helsinki’s Night of the Arts at the end of August. The concept will feature at various events in Vantaa, Helsinki and Lahti through September.
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