Stora Enso produces pellets suitable for heating from sawdust and wood chips, a by-product of sawing, at its Kitee sawmill. The products are suitable for industrial use, as well as for household and small boiler use. In Varkaus, the company converts the raw material for corrugated cardboard to virgin fiber for the production of fine paper machines.
Both investments aim to improve competitiveness.
Kitee sawmill's new pellet line utilizes cutter shavings and sawdust, which are generated in the further processing of sawn products consisting of debarked softwood. The new line will better serve the pellet market in Eastern Finland.
"After a short test phase, pellet production has been running at full capacity since spring 2014, and we reached premium pellet production in March. We are now operating at full capacity, with an average of 20 tonnes of pellets per year coming off the line," says the director of the Finnish and Russian spruce sawmills. Asmo Crow.
The sawmill's annual production capacity is 260 cubic meters of sawn timber and 000 cubic meters of further processed products. The majority of sawn products are exported, mainly to Japan, China and France. The sawmill employs a total of 120 people.
According to Varis, the pellet line significantly strengthens the sawmill's competitiveness as by-products from sawmill operations are utilized more efficiently.
“Pellet is a good support for sawmilling, which will of course continue to be the main activity of Kitee Sawmill.”
Cardboard for the world
In Varkaus, Stora Enso is converting a fine paper machine to produce corrugated board raw material. The conversion work will be carried out in autumn 2015, and the new line is expected to start up in late 2015. The investment will cost approximately EUR 110 million.
Fine paper production in Varkaus will cease completely during the third quarter of 2015.
The primary reason for the production change is clear. The demand for fiber-based packaging materials is growing rapidly worldwide. However, the demand for fine paper is not.
“The use of printing paper and various graphic papers has been declining in Europe for a long time. There is too much capacity. The transition to corrugated board makes very good business sense, as the demand for paperboard is growing rapidly,” says President of Stora Enso’s Packaging Solutions business unit. Hannu Alalauri says.
Although the investment does not directly affect the number of jobs at the Varkaus factory, the side effects are significant.
"I would cautiously estimate that 100–200 new jobs will be created in the production chain, especially in wood procurement and logistics. So yes, it does have an impact on employment here."
Text: Jaakko Liikanen
Photo: Stora Enso
