Metsä Board has confirmed that its Kemi mill reached the milestone of producing 15 million tonnes of premium kraftliner on 12th December.
The Kemi mill has been a forerunner in the product development of coated white kraftliners. Production of brown kraftliner started in 1971 and the capacity was 180,000 tonnes per annum. In 1975, the mill’s bleaching plant was completed, and the production of mottled liner began soon after. Following investments, the production of white top kraftliner began in 1986. In 1990, the degree of upgrading was further raised with the launch of coating, followed by investments made in double-coating in 2011. From January 2023, Kemi mill’s full focus will be on the development and enhancing the availability of coated white kraftliners to meet with the growing demand.
Today, there are three different coated grades in the product range and, as a result of continuous process development and numerous investments over the years, the production capacity of the mill has more than doubled to 425,000 tonnes per year. Metsä Board’s current development programme is a €67m investment that will increase the production capacity of the mill’s coated white kraftliners by a further 40,000 tonnes and help improve the mill’s sustainability performance.
“The basis for the development of the coated grades has from the very beginning been meeting the most demanding customer needs and anticipating future trends of the end user industry,” says Panu Räsänen, Product Manager WKL, Metsä Board. “Thanks to years of systematic development, Kemi’s current product family offers an optimal coated krafliner grade for each printing method. Metsä Board’s aim is to support circular economy by premium and lightweight paperboards produced resource-efficiently, helping customers to reduce their carbon footprint. Corrugated converters and printers worldwide know Metsä Board’s kraftliners for their quality and consistency.”
