Stora Enso’s new consumer packaging board line at the Oulu site in Finland has started production ramp-up. The first customer deliveries are expected in the second quarter of 2025.
In 2022, Stora Enso decided to convert the remaining idle paper machine at the Oulu site into a consumer packaging board line for folding box board (FBB) and coated unbleached kraft (CUK), with an annual capacity of 750,000 tonnes. The project is being completed according to the original timeline and budget of approximately €1 bn. The new packaging board line is expected to reach EBITDA breakeven by the year-end 2025 and full capacity during 2027, at which point annual sales are anticipated to be approximately €800m.
“The new line will be the most modern and cost-efficient in Europe. Through this investment, our Oulu unit will become Stora Enso’s largest production facility, an integrated mega-site, focusing on future packaging board grades and featuring a flexible production setup. This will strengthen profitability and competitiveness for our consumer board and containerboard offerings. It will also enable us to optimise production at our other sites to unlock further profitable growth, for example in liquid packaging board at our Skoghall site in Sweden,” says Hans Sohlström, President and CEO.
Following this investment and the earlier conversion completed in 2021, the Oulu site will produce unbleached pulp, kraftliner, and consumer board in both reels and sheets. The Oulu production site employs a total of approximately 650 people.
