Finnish pulp and paper company Stora Enso has signed an agreement for a €150m loan to be used for the a €285m containerboard machine investment project at Ostroleka Mill in Poland.
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The loan, which matures in 2023, will be procured by the company from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Stora Enso executive vice-president packaging business area Mats Nordlander said the investment would strengthen the company’s position in corrugated packaging in the growing markets of Central and Eastern Europe.
"The investment is one more step in building sustainable and profitable growth for the group," he said.
The new container board machine will renew Stora Enso’s product offering, and will also improve the overall cost position through internal supply of lightweight containerboard made from recycled fibre.
Stora Enso said it had procured the main items for the Ostroleka project and construction work was progressing as planned.
The Polish facility will have a production capacity of 455,000t annually and will increase Stora Enso’s self-sufficiency in containerboards from 35% to 60%, the company said.
In 2010, the company registered sales of €10.3bn and consumed 560,000t of containerboard.
Stora Enso’s corrugated packaging product portfolio includes transport and consumer packaging, packaging design, and machinery.
The group’s 20 corrugated packaging plants in Finland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic States, with a total corrugating packaging capacity of 1.3 billion square metres, used about 560 000t of containerboard in 2010.
Caption: The €150m loan will be procured by Stora Enso from the European Investment Bank. Image courtesy of Stora Enso.
