Heinzel Group to Convert Idled Paper Machine at Steyrermühl Mill to Kraft Papers

Once converted by early 2024, the paper machine will produce up to 150,000 tons per year of kraft papers to be marketed under Heinzel Group's STARKRAFT brand.

March 6, 2023 - Heinzel Group announced that it will convert an idled paper machine at the Steyrermühl mill in Austria to the production of kraft papers.

Currently, the Steyrermühl Mill is owned and operated by UPM.

In June of 2022, Heinzel Group entered into a share purchase agreement with UPM to acquire UPM Kymmene Austria GmbH and its subsidiaries in Steyrermühl, Upper Austria. The transaction includes the Steyrermühl mill, a sawmill, and a residue incineration plant co-owned with Heinzel's Laakirchen Papier.

According to the deal, UPM will continue to operate the mill "as is" until the end of 2023 and Heinzel will take over the site on January 1, 2024.

The Steyrermühl mill has two paper machines. One of the machines is producing newsprint and the other was idled in 2017. The operating machine will cease production of newsprint at the end of 2023.

In accordance with the agreement, the ownership of the idled paper machine has been transferred to Heinzel Group and the conversion project has begun. Austrian equipment manufacturer Andritz has won the order for the rebuild.

"This is the first step in our plan to develop the Laakirchen community with the Steyrermühl mill and our neighboring Laakirchen mill into a European hub for sustainable packaging papers and renewable energy," stated Sebastian Heinzel, CEO of Heinzel Group. "The new papers will complement our existing range and allow us to offer sustainable products replacing fossil-based packaging solutions."

Once converted by early 2024, the machine will produce up to 150,000 tons of brown and white low grammage kraft papers per year to be marketed under Heinzel Group's STARKRAFT brand.

Heinzel Group's company, Zellstoff Pöls in Pöls, Austria, operates a pulp and paper mill with two paper machines that produce about 200,000 tons per year of bleached kraft papers under the STARKRAFT brand.

Werner Hartmann, COO of Zellstoff Pöls, commented, "With this investment, STARKRAFT will become the world's leading brand for bleached and unbleached kraft papers. We are excited to expand our product portfolio for all relevant packaging segments, especially for so-called flexpack and food applications."

Heinzel Group produces market pulp, packaging paper and magazine paper at its four companies: Zellstoff Pöls, Laakirchen Papier, Raubling Papier and Estonian Cell. The Group also trades in cellulose, paper, recycled fiber, and packaging solutions through its three businesses: heinzelsales, Europapier and Bunzl&Biach.

SOURCE: Heinzel Group