Metsä Group to renew pulp production process in Joutseno, to increase capacity

Metsä Group plans to introduce polysulphide technology in the pulp manufacturing process at its Joutseno mill. The new production process will generate a new kind of softwood pulp and is to increase the mill's capacity.

Metsä Group has announced plans to develop the production process at its Joutseno pulp mill in Finland. The group said it intended to invest €15m in the single-line softwood pulp mill to adopt a new pulp manufacturing process – polysulphide cooking. The main equipment for the project will be supplied by Andritz. Construction is said to begin in autumn this year, and the process is to be commissioned in the summer of next year.

With the investment, Metsä Group will launch a new kind of softwood pulp on the market, which will improve customers' cost-efficiency and the technical properties of paper and board products, the company said. In addition, Metsä Group is to increase production capacity of the Joutseno mill by almost 10% and improve the efficiency of production.

Metsä Group is also currently implementing a gasification plant investment at the Joutseno mill worth around €20m. This project will allow the mill to do without fossil fuels in the future. According to Metsä Group, the production facility will be the first carbon dioxide-neutral pulp mill in Finland.

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