Stora Enso to consolidate Finnish operations

Stora Enso, a pulp and paper company headquartered in Helsinki, has announced plans to close its Heinola, Finland, corrugated plant and consolidate its corrugated packaging business in Finland to its Lahti plant. The company says the objective of the move is to improve its profitability and competitiveness by creating a centre of excellence for corrugated packaging in Lahti.

Stora Enso says it plans to invest approximately €19 million ($21.3 million) in new machinery and supporting infrastructure at its Lahti facility, where the most important individual investment is in a new corrugator. The proposed project is planned to start in November 2016 and is expected to be finalised by the end of the first quarter 2018.

In a news release announcing the possible consolidation, Peter Torstensson, Stora Enso senior vice president and head of Corrugated Nordics, Division Packaging Solutions, says, “The plan to potentially consolidate our corrugated operations in Finland is largely driven by the need to improve profitability and strengthen our competitive edge. In addition to the planned investment, our strong infrastructure in Lahti would provide us with a world-class asset base to better serve our customers.”

While the company’s Heinola corrugated plant will be shuttered, the company says corrugated packaging production at its Kristiinankaupunki plant will continue. Additionally, the Heinola fluting mill for containerboard will not be affected.

The move follows on the heels of Stora Enso completing the sale of its Kabel coated mechanical paper mill in Germany, to Kabel Premium Pulp & Paper GmbH, which was completed 1 September 2016.