Ruukki Group offers to buy Kemijärvi pulp mill

Stora Enso insists that no pulp should be produced

print this

The small listed company Ruukki Group said on Thursday that it had made a written proposal to the pulp and paper manufacturer Stora Enso for discussions on buying the Kemijärvi pulp mill.
      Stora Enso has decided to shut down the facility. The company wants to reduce the production capacity for pulp and to help secure sufficient supplies of wood for its other units.
      In a press release given out on Thursday, Ruukki Group CEO Matti Vikkula said that it is neither economically nor environmentally sensible to transport large amounts timber long distances from Finnish Lapland to outside the area. Therefore, the company said that it hopes to continue the production of pulp in Kemijärvi.
      Stora Enso spokesman Kari Vainio indicated in a statement given to the Finnish News Agency STT that the company does not want pulp production to continue in Kemijärvi.
     
A movement has arisen in the region to keep the Kemijärvi pulp mill. Juha Pikkarainen, an activist of the movement, who also represents personnel at the plant that is threatened with closuer, welcomes the offer by Ruukki, and its proposal to include the production of bioenergy as a sideline for the pulp mill.
      Pikkarainen says that plenty of wood is available for all. He notes that the Forestry Centre of Finnish Lapland recently said that it is increasing its annual felling forecast by 1.4 million cubic metres, which is approximately the amount that the Kemijärvi plant uses in a year.
      "One option for filling the requirement for raw material deliveries could be deliveries of Russian wood to Kemijärvi in the form of wood chips", said Matti Vikkula of the Ruukki Group. The company says that Russia's export tariffs on raw timber do not apply to wood chips.
     
Ruukki Group has plans to build a pulp mill in Kostroma. The company believes that the two installations could benefit each other.
      Juha Pikkarainen says that other buyer candidates have emerged in addition to Ruukki, but he does not want to say if the potential buyers are from Finland or abroad.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Minister says government is not to intervene in Stora Enso closures (6.11.2007)
  Finnish government allocates funds to areas hit by Stora Enso closures (26.10.2007)
  Stora Enso to shut down two factories in Finland and one in Sweden - 1,400 jobs to go (25.10.2007)
  Wood shortage threatens pulp production in Kemijärvi (15.6.2007)

Links:
  Ruukki Group website
  Stora Enso website

Helsingin Sanomat