Swedish forest products company Holmen AB is to invest SKr1.1bn building a new sawmill with a 750,000m³ sawn whitewood annual capacity.
Holmen president and CEO Magnus Hall said the new mill in Norrköping would make the group a leading supplier of structural timber.
Until now, paper and paperboard have been the mainstay of the group’s business, with the 300,000m³- a- year sawn timber mill in Iggesund making up just a small fraction of overall business.
“As a large forest owner and player on the European paper and paperboard markets it is natural for us to develop our business on the sawn timber market too,” said Mr Hall.
“The integration of the existing printing paper mill with the sawmill is expected to result in valuable synergies in wood procurement and joint infrastructure at the mill site, as well as possibilities for effective energy solutions.”
Production is planned to start in the autumn of 2009, with about 140 employees when operating at its rated capacity.
The current Iggesund mill supplies redwood timber, primarily for the joinery industry. Its sales in 2006 were SKr465m, compared to SKr10.1bn and SKr5.2bn for Holmen’s paper and paperboard divisions respectively.
