Against the background of a decreasing market for fine paper and an increasing market for board Stora Enso is to rebuild its Varkaus mill fine paper machine to produce virgin-fibre containerboard. The company also has rebuild plans for a fibre line at its Skoghall mill.
Stora Enso decided to commence a feasibility study on the conversion of its Varkaus mill fine paper machine in Finland to produce virgin-fibre containerboard. If the investment will be approved following the study, which is expected to be completed in the first quarter of next year, the capital expenditure for the conversion is estimated to be in the range of €80-100m. The Varkaus mill has one paper machine with an annual capacity of 285,000 t of uncoated fine paper. The potential capacity of the board machine would be about 350,000 tpy, Stora Enso said.
In addition, the company will rebuild a fibre line in the kraft pulp mill at its Skoghall plant in Sweden. The €32m investment will include its chemical recovery operations and is to increase the mill’s pulp output capacity about 45,000 t per year. The project will begin immediately and is to be completed in October next year.
