This week ground was officially broken for the new evaporator and brown stock washing system at Södra’s pulp mill at Mörrum, Sweden. The investment decision was made in February 2016 and will have several positive effects.

"A ground-breaking ceremony was held today for the new evaporator and brown stock washing system. This investment will enable us to grow with our customers by increasing the production rate for paper and dissolving pulp. The energy balance at the facility will also be improved, which means we can increase our deliveries of district heating and biofuels," said Stefan Sandberg, mill manager.

 

Södra’s investment is the second stage of a long-term focus on the pulp mill at Mörrum and brings Södra’s total investment in the facility to SEK 1.7 billion.

 

 

In addition to investment in a new evaporation plant, the brown stock washing system on the dissolving pulp line will be modernized. The evaporator will raise the production capacity, enabling increased supplies of energy products such as electricity, district heating, and biofuels. This investment will mean that Södra can offer its customers higher volumes of both paper pulp and dissolving pulp, and the expansion will increase the total annual production capacity from 425,000 to 470,000 metric tons. 

"It is very exciting to be able to make such long-term investments here at Mörrum," said Sandberg.

Tuesday’s ground-breaking ceremony took a slightly different turn when Södra’s President and CEO Lars Idermark and Mill Manager Sandberg used explosives instead of a spade. They commemorated the start of the project by blowing up a mound of earth.

The ceremony was also attended by Per-Ola Mattsson (deputy mayor of the City of Karlshamn), Daniel Wäppling (chief executive of the City of Karlshamn), Maria Zimdahl (segment executive/VP of the Infra Services division at NCC), and Jimmy Lindström (head of Recycling at Skandinavien Andritz).

The construction project is scheduled for completion by November 2017.