METSÄ FIBRE, a company belonging to the Metsä Group, has decided to invest 1.6 billion euros in a new biologics plant in Kemi, Finland, which will be the largest investment project ever built by the Finnish forest industry in Finland. The construction period will be approximately two and a half years and the plant will be operational in the third quarter of 2023.

Metsä Group is currently building the world's most advanced sawmill in RAUM, Finland. Together with the investment in the Kemi bioproducts plant, Metsä Group will strongly strengthen and improve its value chain in the forest industry, better meet the needs of private forest land shareholders and a wide range of customers, and will more effectively address the challenges posed by climate change.

"The position and role of Finland's forests in all ecological, economic and social spheres is of paramount importance in our development strategy. Our strategic objectives include increasing the value of Finnish forests, achieving profitable business growth with our customers, increasing the production of long-term carbon-fixing wood products, replacing fossil-based products with renewable wood-based products, and increasing the production and use of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil energy. renewable energy production and use as an alternative to fossil energy. The implementation of the Kemi and Rauma investment projects is a concrete manifestation of our growth strategy described above." Metsä Group President and CEO Yikai He introduced.

"The position and role of Finland's forests in all ecological, economic and social spheres is of paramount importance in our development strategy. Our strategic objectives include increasing the value of Finnish forests, achieving profitable business growth with our customers, increasing the production of long-term carbon-fixing wood products, replacing fossil-based products with renewable wood-based products, and increasing the production and use of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil energy. renewable energy production and use as an alternative to fossil energy. The implementation of the Kemi and Rauma investment projects is a concrete manifestation of our growth strategy described above." Metsä Group President and CEO Yikai He introduced.

The 7.6 million square meters of wood for the Kemi Bioproducts plant will be sourced from sustainably managed forests and the wood will be 100% traceable, and the Metsä Group's shareholders, the vast private forest landowners of Finland, will provide a solid source of wood for the Kemi plant.

The new bioproducts plant in Kemi will produce 1.5 million tons of coniferous and broadleaf wood pulp per year, as well as a wide range of biomass products, when it comes on stream. At the same time, the plant will have an electricity supply of 2 TWh, equivalent to 2.5% of Finland's current national electricity production capacity. The existing 620,000-ton pulp line at the site will be discontinued and dismantled when the new plant is in operation.

"The demand for northern bleached conifer pulp in the global market will continue to grow. Kemi's new bioproducts plant will strongly strengthen METSÄ FIBRE's long-term partnership with our customers and together we will achieve our business growth goals. At the same time, like the Enekoski plant, which opened in 2017, the Kemi plant will become a global benchmark for the industry in terms of environmental protection and efficient use of energy and materials. The plant will be completely fossil fuel-free and will supply renewable electricity, wood-based fuels and heat to the outside." Guan Nuoyi, CEO of METSÄ FIBRE, described.

The Kemi Bioproducts plant will incorporate the industry's most advanced technology and equipment available today. Although the capacity of the plant will significantly exceed current production, the new bioproducts plant will achieve emissions below the standard values set by the environmental permit for the existing plant. Minimizing the environmental impact of the plant construction and production process is one of the core objectives of the project's engineering design. The environmental and water supply permits for the Kemi project were issued by the State Administration of the Northern Region of Finland in December 2020.