A fire at BillerudKorsnäs’ production unit in Karlsborg, Sweden, during the night between Sept. 5-6, 2017, has shut down production at the mill. The fire started and was extinguished late in the evening on September 5 and was isolated to one building. Production at Karlsborg was stopped while the damage was being investigated. 

After analyzing the impact of the fire, BillerudKorsnäs now expects Karlsborg to be back to full production during the week starting Monday, September 18. The fire started as a result of a malfunctioning security valve leaking oxygen, leading to ignition.

"The most important thing is that no person has been injured in the fire. We have now assessed the impact of the fire and the work with making the unit ready for start of production is ongoing at high intensity. We expect full production to be reached during next week, i.e., beginning Monday. As it is a complex startup after this type of event, there is some uncertainty about the exact timing," said Per Lindberg, president and CEO of BillerudKorsnäs.

The production unit in Karlsborg manufactures sack and kraft paper as well as market pulp for the packaging paper business area and has a production capacity of approximately 300,000 metric tpy.