Metsä Board stopped the last remains of its fine paper production in July, thus completing the exit from the graphic paper sector.
The company's fine paper manufacturing plunged from 280,000 t in the first half of 2015 to 21,000 t in the same period of time this year. The main reason for this slump was the decommissioning of graphic paper machines PM 6 and PM 7 at Metsä Board's Husum mill in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Metsä Board's only machine to produce graphic paper in 2016 was BM 2 at the Husum mill. BM 2 is former LWC machine PM 8, which was rebuilt in April 2015 and now is mainly used to make fully bleached liner. Up until July 2016, the machine was also used to manufacture small quantities of uncoated woodfree paper.
On the whole, Metsä’s withdrawal from the graphic paper sector has removed approximately 600,000 t from the market since 2014.
