A ground-breaking ceremony took place last week in face of the expansion of the Södra pulp mill in Värö. Södra, Valmet and NCC took part in the ceremony to herald the start of construction, an initiative in which Södra has invested more than four billion Swedish kronor.
Earlier this year, the Board of Directors at Södra made the decision to make a massive expansion of Södra Cell Värö.
The expansion involves increasing current annual production capacity of 425,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes. It will make the mill one of the biggest in the world in terms of softwood sulphate pulp production.
“This expansion is a vital part of our strategy, and a must if we are to be able to develop our business. The paper pulp market is growing globally, and now it will be possible for us to continue to grow together with our customers.” Lars Idermark, CEO and Group President, Södra
As well as increasing pulp production, the project means that the mill will be made even more energy efficient. Södra Cell Värö is already independent of fossil fuels during normal operation. Supplies of green energy will be increased still further thanks to this investment.
If the environmental permit process goes according to plan, the expanded mill will be ready to start up in the third quarter of 2016. The project will create 400 FTEs over a period of ten years. In the long term, it will also create 20 or so new job opportunities at SCV and 220 job opportunities within surrounding businesses such as Södra Skog.
