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Tag: stora enso

  • Production started at Stora Enso’s Oulu Mill in Finland

    Production started at Stora Enso’s Oulu Mill in Finland

    Stora Enso has completed the conversion of its Oulu paper mill for production of packaging board. The pulp mill has been in production since mid-January.

    The project began in May 2019 following a decision to invest EUR 350 million. The packaging machine will now be ramped up during the first quarter and is expected to reach its designed production capacity by the end of this year.

    Completing the Oulu Mill conversion is an important step in our transformation and responds to increasing global market demand for circular and eco-friendly packaging materials, says President and CEO Annica Bresky.

    In the conversion project, one of the two former paper machines was converted for packaging board production.

    The pulp mill and drying machine were modified to produce unbleached brown pulp (530 000 tonnes annually), out of which about 150 000 tonnes are sold externally.

    When fully ramped up within a year, Oulu Mill will generate a EUR 300 million annual sales increase for the Packaging Materials division.

    Approximately 400 people are employed on the mill site, including facilities personnel and logistics staff.

    The mill’s wood consumption, mainly purchased from private forest owners in Northern Finland, will increase by 0.5 million m3 to 2.4 million m3 annually.

  • Stora Enso to pay another dividend instalment of EUR 0.15 per share

    Stora Enso to pay another dividend instalment of EUR 0.15 per share

    Stora Enso Oyj’s Board of Directors has decided that a second dividend instalment of EUR 0.15 per share will be distributed based on the balance sheet adopted for the year 2019.

    The second dividend instalment will be paid on or about 17 December 2020 to a shareholder who is recorded in the shareholders’ register maintained by Euroclear Finland Oy or in the separate register of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB on the record date of the dividend payment, 10 December 2020.

    The dividend payable for Euroclear Sweden registered shares will be forwarded by Euroclear Sweden AB and paid in Swedish krona.

    Dividends payable to ADR holders will be forwarded by Citibank N.A. and paid in US dollars. The ex-dividend date is 9 December 2020.

    Stora Enso’s Annual General Meeting of 4 June 2020 decided on an immediate dividend payment of EUR 0.15.

    It also authorised the Board of Directors to decide at a later date, at its discretion, to distribute a total dividend of up to EUR 0.35 per share in one or more instalments.

    Following the dividend payment on 17 December 2020, the total dividend for the financial year 2019 is EUR 0.30 per share.

  • Stora Enso invests in production line for granulated lignin in Finland

    Stora Enso invests in production line for granulated lignin in Finland

    Stora Enso is investing EUR 14 million to build a granulation and packing plant for lignin at its own Sunila Mill in Finland.

    Lignin is one of the key innovation areas for delivering growth on new applications, such as energy storage, binders and carbon fiber.

    Lignin is one of the main building blocks of a tree. Today, the lignin produced at Sunila Mill, Lineo by Stora Enso, is delivered as a dusty powder or as wet lignin.

    It is used, for example, as a phenol replacement in adhesives, as a bio-based natural binder replacing bitumen in asphalt, and in bioplastics.

    The construction of the granulation plant is estimated to begin by the end of the second quarter of 2021 and to be complete in the second quarter of 2022.

    Stora Enso has been producing lignin industrially at its Sunila Mill in Finland since 2015. The annual production capacity is 50,000 tonnes, making Stora Enso the largest kraft lignin producer in the world.

  • Stora Enso forest assets, between EUR 6.5 billion and EUR 7.0 billion

    Stora Enso forest assets, between EUR 6.5 billion and EUR 7.0 billion

    Stora Enso has decided to start using a valuation method for its forest assets in the Nordics based on market transaction data and change the accounting policy from the fourth quarter of 2020 onwards. 

    Preliminary estimations, based on transactions in those areas in which Stora Enso has forest land, indicate that the value of the group’s forest assets, including leased land, will be between EUR 6.5 billion and EUR 7.0 billion, compared with the end of Q3/2020 book value of EUR 5.4 billion.

    The review of the fair value will be completed during the fourth quarter and will take into account also the latest transaction prices.

    Forest assets are defined as standing growing trees and the related forest land.

    From the fourth quarter of 2020 onwards, forests assets in Sweden will be valued by using a market approach method based on the forest market transactions in the areas where Stora Enso’s forests are located. 

    For the Finnish forest assets (through Stora Enso’s 41% ownership in Tornator), the market approach is not considered a reliable valuation method as the market data is not available with enough details, for example in terms of forest cubic meters of the traded estates.

    As a result, there is no change in valuation method for biological assets.

    For the plantation forests, there will not be any change in the valuation method as there is no reliable market transaction data available.

  • Stora Enso to shut down one newsprint paper machine in Hylte Mill

    Stora Enso to shut down one newsprint paper machine in Hylte Mill

    Stora Enso will start codetermination negotiations with employees at its Hylte Mill in Sweden regarding a plan to reorganise the mill, including permanent closure of paper machine PM3 and the deinking plant (DIP).

    After the planned restructuring, the mill would run on 100% thermomechanical pulp (TMP), improving the competitiveness of the unit. 

    The planned closure of PM3 and the reorganisation of the mill would impact a maximum of 140 persons. PM3 is planned to be closed by the end of 2020 and the DIP latest in Q2 2021.

    No decisions regarding the planned reorganisation or employee impact will be taken until the codetermination negotiations have been concluded.

    Impact on Stora Enso’s annual newsprint capacity

    Hylte Mill currently operates two newsprint machines with an annual capacity of 480.000 tonnes. Production at Hylte Mill would continue on one line, PM4 for standard newsprint paper.

    The planned shutdown would decrease Stora Enso’s annual newsprint capacity by 26% or 235.000 tonnes, which represents 4% of total European newsprint paper capacity.

    The planned shutdown would reduce Stora Enso’s total paper capacity by 5%.

    Stora Enso will continue to produce standard newsprint at Hylte, Langerbrugge and Sachsen mills. The closure of Hylte Mill PM3 would not impact Stora Enso’s newsprint product offering.

    The plan would result in annual cost savings of EUR 14 million

    Stora Enso will book restructuring costs of approximately EUR 12 million as an item affecting comparability (IAC) in its Q3 2020 results, of which about EUR 8 million will have a cash impact.

    The planned closure would not have material impact on Stora Enso’s sales or operational EBIT.

    ”The decline in global newsprint demand continues due to changes in consumer behaviour, and it is not expected to recover. This has led to global overcapacity, low operating rates, and poor profitability at the Hylte Mill,” says Kati ter Horst, EVP, Paper division.

  • Stora Enso invests in cross laminated timber (CLT) production in Czechia

    Stora Enso invests in cross laminated timber (CLT) production in Czechia

    Stora Enso decided to invest approximately EUR 79 million in a new production line for cross laminated timber (CLT) at its Ždírec sawmill in the Czech Republic.

    Production is scheduled to begin during the third quarter of 2022 and the estimated annual production capacity will be approximately 120 000 m³ after ramp-up.

    The investment is expected to generate annual sales of approximately EUR 70 million when run at full capacity and to meet the Wood Products division’s profitability target of 20% operational return on operating capital (ROOC).

    Construction expected to start during the first quarter of 2021

    Stora Enso invests in the latest technology, which, together with fully integrated production at the Ždírec sawmill, will provide customers with cost-efficient solutions and premium products.

    Integration with the existing sawmill will also add benefits in, for example, raw material and energy supply, and logistics.

    The investment is estimated to increase the number of employees at the mill by approximately 110 FTEs. Stora Enso has received all required permits for the project.

    Currently, Stora Enso has three CLT production units with a total capacity of 270.000 m3: Gruvön in Sweden and Ybbs and Bad St. Leonhard in Austria.