Mill representing “largest ever investment” in Finland’s forest industry set to start operations

Finnish forestry firm Metsä Group aims to start up its Kemi mills tomorrow (20 September).
As of 10 September, the Kemi mills underwent a maintenance and connection shutdown to prepare for the deployment of the largest ever investment of the forest industry in Finland - the new bioproduct mill and paperboard mill expansion in Kemi.
The company warned that odours may occur during the shutdown due to preparations for the bioproduct mill's start-up.
Metsä Group said the work carried our prior to start-up will ensure the mills come online smoothly and safely.
"During the shutdown, the existing pulp mill will be safely shut down, the paperboard mill’s new investments will be deployed, and the connections between the new bioproduct mill and the paperboard mill will be finalised," it added.
Annually, the new Kemi bioproduct mill will produce 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp and many other bioproducts, including 2 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity.
The mill features world-class production, environmental and energy efficiency, and despite the considerable increase in production capacity, the mill’s emissions are lower than the limits specified in the currently valid environmental permit for the existing Kemi pulp mill.
At the Kemi paperboard mill, renewal and bottleneck investments have been carried out to increase the annual production capacity of white top kraftliner by approximately 40,000 tonnes.
The investments will reduce the mill’s water consumption by 40% and energy use by 5% per tonne of paperboard produced.
The investments are a major step towards Metsä Group’s 2030 sustainability targets and will support our customers’ sustainable business, according to the company.