A sheeting facility will increase Kotkamills' competitiveness on the board market, boosting flexibility while reducing transport and raw material costs.
MM Kotkamills, a subsidiary of Mayr-Melnhof, has started building the new sheet cutting plant at the company's mill in Kotka, Finland. Construction work started in February, and by early 2024 the company will be able to deliver cartonboard sheets from the plant, MM Kotkamills announced. To date, cartonboard from Kotkamills has been delivered in rolls, while cartonboard for food packaging from the mill has been cut by external sheeting plants.
The investment was first announced in May last year. At that time, Mayr-Melnhof put the total CAPEX for the project at €30m.
The new building at the Kotkamills covers almost 5,000 m² and will house an automated roll store, two cartonboard cross cutters and an automated packing line, the company explained. The two cross cutters will be equipped with automated core and waste handling. The latest would allow the company to bring the cartonboard broke from cutting back into the board manufacturing process thus reducing primary fibre consumption.
