EUR13.9m Investment Improves Coated Papers Quality

After an EUR13.9 million investment by M-real, the company's ultra light-weight coated and light-weight coated grades, Galerie Lite and Galerie Brite, will benefit from a more even surface.

That follows the completion of a two-year project at M-real's Kirkniemi Mill in Finland, which will provide pulp quality and consistency improvements, as well as better operational efficiency.

The project aimed to improve pulp and chemical processes on Kirkniemi's paper machine lines.

It was executed in three phases with the mill's groundwood screening and filtering upgraded, whilst chemical mixing processes were modernised.

Finally, new groundwood, shive and chemical pulp handling systems were installed.

Last May M-real announced an investment programme of EUR7 million on a new winder at the Kirkniemi Mill to meet the increasing quality standards and need for higher production efficiency set by wider heat-set web offset printing presses.

Martti Savelainen, M-real's mill manager at Kirkniemi, said: "New technology, a reduction in process equipment, and higher levels of automation have made operations more efficient, as well as improving the quality and consistency of the pulp which can be seen in, for example, reduced shive counts.".

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