Metsä Board increases folding boxboard production capacity by in Husum

Paper and Board Solutions

Metsä Board has invested €210 million in increasing folding boxboard capacity at its Husum mill in Sweden. The company is responding to growing demand for sustainably produced packaging materials that support the circular economy.

Metsä Board has made an investment decision to increase the annual folding boxboard capacity by 200,000 tonnes at Husum. At present, the annual folding boxboard capacity of the paperboard machine BM1 is 400,000 tonnes, and after the investment it will rise to 600,000 tonnes. Additional capacity will enter the market during 2024 to 2025.

The Husum port concept will be examined separately, taking into account the growing logistics volumes of the entire integrated mill, and necessary potential investments will be decided later.

Preparatory work for construction will begin in October 2021 in connection with the planned annual maintenance shutdown of the Husum integrated mill. The ramp up of additional capacity is expected to start in autumn 2023 and full production capacity is expected to be reached by the end of 2025.

The additional capacity will be directed mainly to the North American and European markets, where the demand growth for premium lightweight paperboards is expected to continue. Metsä Board's folding boxboard is used in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics packaging as well as in food service packaging.

‘This is a significant investment that will bring to market the additional capacity that customers want. Husum is a competitive integrate and the ongoing renewal of the pulp mill will further improve the mill's production efficiency and environmental performance. It provides an excellent platform for increasing paperboard production capacity in a sustainable way and utilising the strengths of northern fresh fibre,’ said Mika Joukio, CEO of Metsä Board.