Metsä Fibre, which is part of Metsä Group, is building a new bioproduct mill in Kemi, Finland. The investment value is 1.85 billion euros, which is the largest investment in the Finnish forest industry ever made in Finland. As planned, the mill will begin operations in the third quarter of 2023.

The Kemi bioproduct mill will increase the annual value of Finnish exports by approximately 0.5 billion euros, and the positive annual income effect in Finland from timber sales and domestic procurement will also be around 0.5 billion euros. The new bioproduct mill will secure 250 jobs at the existing Kemi pulp mill for decades to come. In total, Metsä Group employs around 500 people at the Kemi mill.

Finnish companies have been competitive, with the share of Finnish origin in the Kemi bioproduct mill project being very high – approximately 70%. During the construction phase, the employment impact is almost 10,000 person-years, and more than half of this will be in Kemi. Around 15,000 people will work at the mill during the construction phase.

The wood required for the pulp mill will be purchased from sustainably managed forests, and the origin of the wood is known. The Kemi bioproduct mill will use approximately 7.6 million cubic metres of pulpwood per year, which is 4.5 million cubic metres more than at the current pulp mill in Kemi. The wood will be purchased primarily from Finland. The availability of high-quality wood raw materials is ensured by the strong ownership base of Metsäliitto Cooperative.

The way in which Metsä Fibre, which is part of Metsä Group, modernises its pulp mills is based on the company's bioproduct mill concept, which is founded on the resource-efficient use of wood raw material and production side streams. In this concept, renewable wood raw materials and production by-products are fully utilised as various bioproducts, thus replacing fossil-based materials and fossil fuels. The first completely new mill to use this concept is the Äänekoski bioproduct mill, which started operations in 2017.

The Kemi bioproduct mill will produce approximately 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp annually, as well as many other bioproducts. It will also generate 2.0 TWh of renewable electricity per year, which is approximately 2.5% of Finland's total electricity production, and together with the Äänekoski bioproduct mill, approximately 5%. The new mill will replace the current pulp mill in the city of Kemi, which has reached the end of its service life.