At a total investment of about $400 million, the machine project involved the conversion of PM1 from the production of newsprint to recycled containerboard. The machine has the capacity to produce 550,000 tonnes per year.
May 23, 2025 - Norske Skog announced the start-up of its rebuilt recycled containerboard machine, paper machine 1 (PM1), at the company's Golbey mill in France.
At a total investment of about $400 million, the machine project involved the conversion of PM1 from the production of newsprint to recycled containerboard. The machine has the capacity to produce 550,000 tonnes per year and is expected to reach 95% utilization within 2-3 years after startup.
The Golbey mill also has another paper machine, PM2, which has the capacity to produce 330,000 tons per year of newsprint.
The PM1 conversion project marks the single largest investment in Norske Skog's history and brings the Group's total containerboard capacity to 760,000 tonnes.
"The start-up of the world-class containerboard machine at Golbey is a significant milestone for Norske Skog and for everyone working at the Golbey mill," said Geir Drangsland, CEO of Norske Skog. "Although the project has been challenging, we want to thank everyone involved and look forward to delivering volumes to our customers.
"The containerboard business will become an important and strong contributor to Norske Skog's operations going forward. At the same time, Norske Skog will remain a reliable supplier of high-quality publication paper products," Drangsland added.
Norske Skog said that deliveries of containerboard to customers will start during the second quarter of 2025. Capacity utilisation is expected to reach 50-60% towards the end of 2025 and full utilisation of 95% during the first half of 2027. The production will be fully based on recycled paper.
The Golbey mill will contribute to the region's sustainable development by sorting and recycling more than one million tonnes of wastepaper sourced from regions around the mill.
In addition, the Golbey mill will supply Green Valley Energie with waste to produce green and cost-efficient energy for external sale and to Golbey's production processes. This contributes both to the mill's cost position and environmental profile.
The mill will also generate long-term jobs and industrial activity in the region. At full capacity utilization of 880,000 tonnes, the Golbey mill is expected to generate around NOK 5 billion in annual revenue in 2027/28, based on current packaging and publication paper prices.
Headquartered in Norway, Norske Skog is a leading producer of publication paper and packaging with four high quality industrial sites, strong market positions, and close customer relations in Europe.
SOURCE: Norske Skog