SCA Considering Closure of No. 2 Newsprint Machine at Ortviken

SCA, Stockholm, Sweden, plans to gradually reduce and eventually stop the production of newsprint on its PM 2 at the Ortviken mill. As CEO Jan Johansson notes, the machine (installed in 1952) is not being shut down as a direct result of market conditions, but rather as part of an internal process as the company is concentrating on production with the modernized PM 5 and on the new paper grade.

SCA plans to use PM 2 for some time as a test machine and then eventually wants to shut it down for good. This was scheduled to happen soon, but Johansson did not give a firm timeline.

PM 2 has a capacity of 135,000 metric tpy of newsprint and improved newsprint. PM 5, which was the focus of the upgrading work in Ortviken, now produces standard newsprint, improved newsprint, and the new mechanical uncoated paper GraphoInvent, with an annual capacity of 255,000 metric tons. The Ortviken mill has four paper machines with a combined capacity of 900,000 metric tpy of publication papers.

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