News
4 May 2018, 13:59 CET

Production start for paper machine 10 in Skärblacka

We are delighted to announce that PM10, the foundation of our enterprise to develop the Skärblacka production unit into a world leading production center for machine glazed kraft paper (MG paper), now successfully has produced its first "Paper on Pope".

Ever since the decision in June 2016 to develop Skärblacka into a world-leading MG paper production center, intensive work has been ongoing, including a very spectacular and worth seeing  relocation of a 160-tonne Yankee cylinder from the Finnish Tervasaari.

On April 24 at CET 11:57, a significant milestone in the project was achieved when PM10 successfully managed to produce "paper on pope". The pulp has thus been successfully driven through the entire machine, rolled up on the tambour, driven to the pope cylinder and moved to the winding machine where the finished machine glazed paper is cut into customer-specific rolls.

"It's a complicated procedure to drive pulp all the way through the machine till pope and it feels amazing that we are now running paper production on the PM10. With this milestone, we are on track to transform Skärblacka, together with the sister facility in Beetham, into a world-leading MG center," says Håkan Krantz, mill director at Skärblacka.

"This project is a major investment and an important step for BillerudKorsnäs to become the world's leading center for MG kraft. PM10 will be the largest and most efficient machine in Europe and will improve our product mix, to our and our customers delight who get a broader portfolio of value added products," says Johan Nellbeck, Senior Vice President Packaging Paper at BillerudKorsnäs. He continues:

"It is a great commitment to the project and I am extremely proud of what the team has achieved. With this we create a solid foundation for future development of products in Skärblacka - important for us who can maintain a leading position within the MG area, but also, and this it is especially rewarding, important for Skärblacka as a city with for example new job opportunities.

Now the work of machine trimming is started and by 2018, capacity utilization will gradually increase, with the starting and development of products phased in over the next 12 months. The full production capacity, ie 90,000 tonnes per year, is expected to be achieved during the first quarter of 2019.

Paper on pope at CET 11:57 on April 24, followed by 9 hours of continuous production. Proud team on location.