METSÄ

Metsä Group’s pine sawmill inaugurated in Rauma

The new Rauma pine sawmill of Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, was inaugurated on Monday, 10 October 2022. The sawmill was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sanna Marin with Ilkka Hämälä, Metsä Group’s President and CEO, and Jussi Linnaranta, Chair of the Board of Directors of Metsäliitto Cooperative.

With a value of EUR 260 million, the Rauma pine sawmill is the largest ever sawmill investment in Finland. The investment decision was based on the strong growth in global demand for sustainably produced premium sawn timber.

The construction of the Rauma sawmill began in the spring of 2020, and continuous production was launched on 30 September 2022. The new sawmill has an annual production capacity of 750,000 cubic metres of pine sawn timber, and it uses around 1.5 million cubic metres of pine logs sourced in Finland annually. The sawmill will reach full production capacity by the end of 2023.

“The carbon that trees bind while growing is stored in wood products and buildings made of sawn timber throughout their life cycle. The newly inaugurated Rauma sawmill will help Metsä Group boost its production of products that store carbon in the long term very resource efficiently and provide its customers with even better support for sustainable growth and the phasing out of fossil-based raw materials,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.

The sawmill will be a worldwide forerunner in technology and efficiency. It will directly employ around President, Communications, Metsä Group, tel. +358 10 465 4541

100 people and around 500 people across its direct value chain. Metsä Fibre’s Rauma sawmill and pulp mill form an efficient integrated mill, whose synergies are employed in energy production, side stream utilisation, logistics and services.

Requests for further

information, please contact: Juha Laine, Senior Vice

Metsä Group

Metsä Group is leading the way in advancing the bioeconomy. We invest in growth, bioproduct development and a fossil free future. The raw material for our products is renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. We focus on the growth sectors of the forest industry: wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards, as well as tissue and greaseproof papers.

Metsä Group’s annual sales amount to approximately EUR 6 billion, and we have around 9,500 employees in 30 countries. Our international Group has its roots in the Finnish forests: our parent company is Metsäliitto Cooperative which is owned by nearly 100,000 forest owners.

BSW Group announces acquisition of Scott Group

Kilmer Group completes sale of Chaleur Forest Products

BSW Timber Ltd, the largest integrated timber and forestry business in the UK, and a member of Binderholz, has acquired Scott Group, a leading supplier of timber pallets and bespoke timber packaging solutions.

Based near Dunfermline in Scotland, with an annual turnover in excess of £250m and 1,300 employees, Scott Group is an award-winning, sustainable manufacturer of new, bespoke, and reconditioned timber pallets, producing over 30 million pallets per year.

The Scott Group was founded in 1987 and operates across 32 sites, from Shetland to Devon, working with customers to promote the circular economy, which is emphasised by its pallet recovery, repair and reuse service, while it also operates a timber sourcing arm in Latvia.

Tony Hackney, CEO of BSW Group, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have acquired Scott Group. It’s a move which further strengthens our product and service offering.

“It ties into our vision of not only making use of the full value of timber, but also of achieving the best uses for timber across the BSW Group, whilst fully utilising the logistical firepower of the combined businesses. This strategic acquisition means that we are poised ready to serve our customers when we see the economic recovery and upturn.

Much like us, Scott Group has grown organically and through acquisition over the last decade, and we’re confident that with the expertise and experience of BSW and Scott together we can continue to build on this both in the UK and further afield.”

Norman Scott, owner and Group Operations Director at Scott Group, added: “This is a huge move for both Scott Group and the wider timber industry, helping us to cement our status as the UK’s most innovative manufacturer and supplier of timber pallets. It also helps us to ensure that we can work even closer with customers to provide solutions that fit their requirements and deliver value.”

With the acquisition of Scott Group, BSW Group now employs 3,000 people across the sector, and has an annual turnover of approximately £900m, with Binderholz Group turnover reaching almost €2.8bn.

BSW CEO Tony Hackney and CFO Alan Milne will join the existing Scott Group Board of Reinhard Binder, CEO, Binderholz Group

Directors, who will continue in their current roles.

Reinhard Binder, CEO of Binderholz Group, noted: “This transaction is a further step for our group to enlarge our product range, and a consequent step in following our strategy to invest in the value chain. Scott Group fits perfectly into our sustainable business model and zero-waste principle.”

Kilmer Group has announced the completion of its sale to Interfor Corporation (“Interfor”) of 100% of the equity interests in the entities comprising Chaleur Forest Products (“Chaleur”). Chaleur owns two sawmill operations located in Belledune and Bathurst, New Brunswick.

Chaleur is the secondlargest producer of lumber in Atlantic Canada, with an aggregate annual lumber production capacity of 350 million board feet. Chaleur also operates a woodlands management division based out of Miramichi that manages 2.3 million acres of Crown forests (representing approximately 30% of total Crown forest land in New Brunswick).

Chaleur has been a pioneer in New Brunswick’s forestry industry since its Belledune sawmill first began operations in the early 1990s. Kilmer Group’s investment in Chaleur, which is held through Kilmer Forestry LP, began in March 2016, when it acquired Chaleur sawmills.

In May 2018, Kilmer Forestry acquired Fornebu Lumber Company and in May 2020, Miramichi Lumber Products. Under Kilmer Forestry’s management, Chaleur invested more than $40 million in capital projects, allowing Chaleur to make meaningful improvements to its operations including mill automation, just-in-time equipment reporting, asset improvements and projects to improve environmental sustainability.

As part of the acquisition of Miramichi Lumber Products, Chaleur was able to add a third shift at the Bathurst sawmill, which provided much needed employment when the closure of the Belledune smelter in 2019 resulted in over 400 people losing their jobs.

Kilmer Forestry has been committed to sustainable forestry practices and meeting the needs of its customers and stakeholders through responsible management of public and private forests under its stewardship.

The Bathurst sawmill is the focus of a current biomass boiler project, to be completed early in the new year, which will reduce the consumption of propane by 5,000,000 litres annually. –“I am very proud of the accomplishments Chaleur and Kilmer have achieved together, said Larry Tanenbaum, Chairman and CEO of Kilmer Group. “And the transaction with Interfor is a strong opportunity for Interfor to leverage New Brunswick’s competitive market and generate long-term benefits for shareholders, customers, and employees alike.”