The pre-engineering phase of the Kemi bioproduct mill continues, and Metsä Group expects to be ready to make a decision on this approximately Euro 1.5 billion mill in the autumn of 2020.
The Lapland ELY Centre issued its decision and grounds on the EIA report concerning the Kemi bioproduct mill on 6 March 2020. This concluded the environmental impact assessment (EIA). The environmental permit application filed with the Regional State Administrative Agency for Northern Finland is currently being updated on the basis of the reasoned conclusion.
The financing negotiations of the approximately Euro 1.5 billion investment have proceeded. In March 2020, Finnvera provided a guarantee for a Euro 500 million credit with an 80% coverage, conditional on the project’s investment decision. Financing negotiations with the European Investment Bank and a number of commercial banks continue.
In addition to the environmental permit process and financing negotiations, the company is currently engaged in main equipment negotiations, the development of the logistics required by the mill and the preparation work for the construction phase at the site, including the dismantling of existing buildings and the relocation of operations within the mill area.
The company has signed a letter of intent with AFRY on planning and with Fimpec on construction management services during the possible construction phase of the Kemi bioproduct mill.
The Kemi bioproduct mill would produce some 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp a year as well as numerous other bioproducts. It would employ around 250 people directly in Finland and a total of approximately 2,500 people across its direct value chain. The mill’s annual use of pulpwood, purchased mainly from Finland, would amount to roughly 7.6 million cubic metres.
During the construction phase, the Kemi bioproduct mill’s employment impact is estimated to be nearly 10,000 person-years, of which more than half would be carried out in Kemi. In the construction phase, the amount of employees is estimated to be a total of around 15,000.The starting point for the planning of the new bioproduct mill has been a high level of environmental, energy and materials efficiency. The mill would not use any fossil fuels at all, and its electricity self-sufficiency rate would be 250%.
