Metsä Fibre concludes logistics agreements for the Kemi bioproduct mill

“Smooth export logistics are key to production at the bioproduct mill. These agreements offer us efficient logistics solutions for pulp transports from the mill to the port, as well as for port operations in Kemi. The Kemi bioproduct mill produces 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp annually, most of which is exported,” says Jarmo Toikka, SVP, Sourcing and Logistics, from Metsä Group.

All the exports of the Kemi bioproduct mill will be handled in Ajos harbour, in Kemi. A warehouse for the mill’s products, covering 37,000 m2, will also be constructed in the port. The chosen partners are required to offer efficient and low-emissions solutions for logistics.

“For Port of Kemi Ltd, this long-term agreement with Metsä Group means that we can continue to improve Lapland’s only general port, which gives hope and faith to the entire region’s import and export industry. We are very satisfied with our cooperation and negotiations with Metsä Group so far and believe in the power of cooperation in the future too,” says Markku Rautio, Managing Director of Port of Kemi Ltd.

Established in 1869, Port of Kemi Ltd operates as an import and export port and provides logistics services jointly with professional operators, shipping agencies and other service companies.

Kuljetusliike Kalevi Huhtala Oy, based in Pori, will handle the safe road transports of pulp from the Kemi bioproduct mill to Ajos harbour.

“Metsä Group has been a strategically important partner for us throughout our history, and this most recent agreement further strengthens our partnership. We are immensely pleased with this opportunity to participate in this major project and contribute to the development of environmentally friendly, modern and competitive logistics,” says Kati Huhtala, Managing Director of Kuljetusliike Kalevi Huhtala Oy.

Metsä Group’s Kemi bioproduct mill project is progressing as planned. During the construction phase, the mill’s employment effect will be approximately 10,000 person-years, more than half of which will be seen in Kemi. The total number of employees working during the construction phase is estimated to be about 15,000. The investment in the new mill will secure the 250 jobs at the current Kemi mill for the coming decades. Through its direct value chain, the new bioproduct mill will employ around 2,500 people in Finland, some 1,500 more than the employment effect of the current Kemi pulp mill. The bioproduct mill project’s degree of Finnish origin is estimated to be high, at about 70 per cent.

Totalling EUR 1.6 billion, the investment in Metsä Group’s Kemi bioproduct mill is the largest in the history of the Finnish forest industry. The fully fossil free bioproduct mill will start up in the third quarter of 2023. In addition to pulp, the new mill will produce other bioproducts such as tall oil, turpentine and bioelectricity.