The new Rauma pine sawmill of Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, was inaugurated last Monday, 10 October 2022, by Prime Minister Sanna Marin with Ilkka Hämälä, Metsä Group’s President and CEO, and Jussi Linnaranta, Chair of the Board of Directors of Metsäliitto Cooperative.
With a value of €260 million, the Rauma pine sawmill is the largest ever sawmill investment in Finland. The investment decision was based on the strong growth in global demand for sustainably produced premium sawn timber.
The construction of the Rauma sawmill began in the spring of 2020, and continuous production was launched on 30 September 2022. The new sawmill has an annual production capacity of 750,000 cubic metres of pine sawn timber, and it uses around 1.5 million cubic metres of pine logs sourced in Finland annually. The sawmill will reach full production capacity by the end of 2023.
“The carbon that trees bind while growing is stored in wood products and buildings made of sawn timber throughout their life cycle. The newly inaugurated Rauma sawmill will help Metsä Group boost its production of products that store carbon in the long term very resource efficiently and provide its customers with even better support for sustainable growth and the phasing out of fossil-based raw materials,” said Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.
The sawmill will be a worldwide forerunner in technology and efficiency. It will directly employ around 100 people and around 500 people across its direct value chain. Metsä Fibre’s Rauma sawmill and pulp mill form – the Finnish company claims – an efficient integrated mill, whose synergies are employed in energy production, side stream utilisation, logistics and services.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 