Metsä Group’s wood products EUR 30 million sawmill investment in Vilppula, Finland completed
Metsä Group Press Release 18 November 2013
The renewed Vilppula sawmill of Metsä Wood, part of Metsä Group, was inaugurated today, 18 November 2013. The investment of approximately EUR 30 million was allocated to build a new infeed, saw line and green sorting lines at the sawmill. The benefits of the renewed sawmill include better production efficiency and the ability to respond to various customer needs. The sawmill was inaugurated by Jan Vapaavuori, Minister of Economic Affairs of Finland.
"This is a strategically important investment for Metsä Group because it allows us to imaximise the processing value of wood raw material. The new, flexible saw line replaces two old ones, which substantially increases the sawmill's production efficiency. Thus we can more effectively utilise wood supplied to us by our owner-members. This investment strengthens our competitiveness in the challenging market situation," says Kari Jordan, President and CEO of Metsä Group.
The new saw line, which was started in September, enables a totally new kind of flexibility in adjusting our offering. "With the sawmill’s modern production technology and comprehensive cutting models, we can manufacture products which meet customer needs even better than before," says Esa Kaikkonen, Executive Vice President of Metsä Wood.
The Vilppula sawmill is located in the town of Mänttä-Vilppula. The annual capacity of the sawmill is approximately 450,000 m3 with five weekday weekly production and it has about 100 employees. In addition to internal processing, major customers of Metsä Wood sawmills include companies manufacturing upgraded sawn timber products, the furniture industry and distributors.
METSÄ GROUP
Group Communications
For further information, please contact:
Esa Kaikkonen, Executive Vice President, Metsä Wood, +358 010 469 54749
Olga van Iterson, Marketing and Communications Manager, Metsä Wood, tel. +358 50 325 2376
www.metsagroup.com
Metsä Group is a responsible forest industry group whose products’ main raw material is renewable and sustainably grown Nordic wood. Metsä Group focuses on tissue and cooking papers, consumer packaging paperboards, pulp, wood products, and wood supply and forest services. Its high-quality products combine renewable raw materials, customer-orientation, sustainable development and innovation. Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.0 billion in 2012, and it employs approximately 11,500 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 125,000 Finnish forest owners.
www.metsawood.com
Metsä Wood offers competitive and eco-efficient wood-based solutions for industrial construction customers, other industrial customers and the home and lifestyle sectors. We manufacture products from Nordic wood, a sustainable raw material of premium quality. Our sales were EUR 904 million in 2012, and we employ about 2,700 people. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.