Stora Enso will broaden its biocomposites raw material base at the Hylte Mill, Sweden to provide more choice in technical properties and selection of fibres. The investment covers a new Biocomposites Competence Centre and the installation of new machinery for the milling of large fibres for the DuraSense™ by Stora Enso biocomposite material.
The Biocomposites Competence Centre will be built in one of the existing buildings at Hylte Mill. The competence centre will house a laboratory and piloting facilities, performance testing capabilities and a show room. The building project for the competence centre is estimated to start in the 2018 and be completed during 2019.
The investment of Euro 7 million will further strengthen Stora Enso’s position as a renewable materials company. The biocomposite mill in Hylte started up earlier this year. Its annual production capacity is 15,000 tonnes, making it the largest wood fibre-based biocomposite plant in Europe. Although the new investment will not have significant impact on the production capacity, it will diversify the raw material base.
As previously communicated, once fully ramped up, the biocomposite business will increase Stora Enso’s Wood Products sales by approximately Euro 25 million and will exceed the division’s profitability target, operational return on operating capital (ROOC) of 20%.
Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper.
