Metsä Board Scraps Plans to Build New Paperboard Mill in Kaskinen, Finland

March 21, 2024 - Metsä Board today said that it will not move forward with a proposed project to build a new folding boxboard mill at the site of its BCTMP (bleached chemi-thermomechanical pulp) mill in Kaskinen, Finland. The pulp produced by the Kaskinen mill is tailored for paperboard.

In September of 2022, Metsä Board announced the start of pre-engineering for a new folding boxboard mill with the capacity to produce 800,000 tonnes per year at the Kaskinen site.

The pre-engineering phase included technical design, design of infrastructure and logistics solutions, tendering for the main equipment as well as financial analysis of the project. The pre-engineering also included an environmental impact assessment and an application for an environmental permit.

In a press release, Metsä Board said, "The pre-engineering has now been completed and Metsä Board has decided not to proceed with the investment in the Kaskinen folding boxboard mill. The total cost of the planned investment was significantly higher than originally estimated, meaning that the targets for payback time and return on capital employed would not have been met.

"Metsä Board will write down the costs of the pre-engineering, in total approximately EUR 8 million, treated as an investment, as an item affecting comparability in the January-March 2024 operating result," the company added.

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards with a focus on lightweight and high-quality folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners.

SOURCE: Metsä Board