Stora Enso planning new mill in China

Nov 1, 2011 Stora Enso is planning to build a new integrated carton board mill in southern China. The investment will be larger than the total cost for Stora Enso’s and Arauco’s pulp mill project in Uruguay.

The carton board mill will be built in Guangxi province in southern China. Stora Enso started to plant eucalyptus in Guangxi already in 2004, and according to Jouko Karvinen, CEO of Stora Enso, the fiber base for the planned mill is secured.

The mill will be integrated, with both pulp and carton board production. This means, according to Jouko Karvinen, that the investment will be larger than the recent investment in a new pulp mill in Uruguay.

In an interview in Swedish daily Dagens Industri, Jouko Karvinen says that a new carton board mill in China has high priority on Stora Enso’s strategic agenda.

”The number of families in China, who starts consuming pre-packed food is increasing with some 25 percent per year,” Jouko Karvinen says. ”That’s why this investment is included in our strategic agenda. It’s obvious that we have invested quite a lot in our efforts to build up a fiber base there.”

Jouko Karvinen does not reveal the time schedule. He says that it is up to the board to take a decision, and that the company can start building fairly soon after that. /AA