Stora Enso Closing Line at Mill

Stora Enso announced plans to shutter its folding carton operations and chip line at its Wisconsin Rapids Paperboard mill. Additionally, the company will  permanently close its lightweight coated paper machine at the division’s Biron mill, as well as invest about $50 million to modernize some of the company’s pulp and paper machines within its magazine paper business.

Earmarked for improvements will be improvements to the company’s lightweight coated paper machine at its Biron mill; improvements to an LWC paper machine at its Whiting mill; and a pulp plant expansion at its existing thermo-mechanical pulp plant at its Port Hawkesbury facility.

Stora expects to close the Wisconsin Rapids operations by middle to late April. The facility has an annual capacity of 25,000 metric tons of product a year.

Investments at the Biron, Wis., will improve the machine’s production efficiency and increase speed. The project is expected to be complete by next year.

Along with improving one machine, the changes will include permanently shutting down the Biron mill’s least competitive paper machine, which will reduce paper capacity by around 50,000 metric tons per year. The machine has been closed since last March.

At Stora Enso North America's Whiting Mill, Whiting, Wis., a new winder will be added to the mill's No. 64 LWC paper machine. This addition will improve the characteristics of the paper and further strengthen the machine's competitive position in the demanding ultra-lightweight coated paper market.

The existing TMP pulp plant at the Port Hawkesbury Mill, Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, Canada, will be expanded to better support the production of its two paper machines. No. 1 paper machine produces newsprint. No. 2 paper machine is the largest machine producing supercalendered paper in the world. The investment will enhance the efficiency and productivity of the pulp-making process.