Metsä Wood Considering Investment in Punkaharju


Espoo, Finland 06 September 2017 -- Metsä Wood is considering the construction of a new, 65,000 m3 Kerto® LVL line to its mill in Punkaharju, Finland. The value of the potential investment would be approximately EUR 52 million. Metsä Wood is negotiating with the town of Savonlinna and the mill's personnel to create the conditions for the investment. The final investment decision will be made by the end of the year. If the investment is carried out as planned, the line will start up during the first half of 2019.

The new line would bring approximately 35 new jobs to Punkaharju. In addition, the new line would add some 40 person-years to the subcontractors' chain. If the investment is carried out, it will increase demand for logs by 160,000 m3 a year.

"The demand for Kerto LVL is driven by urbanisation, which is creating new, specialised needs for construction products. We believe in the further growth of wood construction, which has gathered momentum over the past few years. Building with wood is fast, light and green. We want to develop partnerships in construction so that we can work with our partnership networks to offer increasingly effective solutions for our customers. The exceptional strength properties of Kerto LVL coupled with its lightness make it an excellent product for this type of construction," says Esa Kaikkonen, Executive Vice President, Metsä Wood.

METSÄ GROUP

www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bio-economy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and cooking papers.

Metsä Group's sales totalled EUR 4.7 billion in 2016, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 104,000 Finnish forest owners.


METSÄ WOOD

www.metsawood.com

Metsä Wood provides competitive and environmentally friendly wood products for construction, industrial customers and distributor partners. We manufacture products from northern wood, a sustainable raw material of premium quality. Our sales in 2016 were EUR 0.5 billion, and we employ about 1,500 people. Metsä Wood is part of Metsä Group.