Korsnäs

The industrial operations center on the Korsnäs mill in Gävle and on the production facility in Frövi with annual capacity of 700 thousand tons and 400 thousand tons, respectively, of paper and paperboard products. The company currently has four production machines in operation: Paper Machine ("PM") 2, 4 and 5 in Gävle as well as the Board Machine ("BM") 5 in Frövi. The plant in Gävle is self-sufficient in pulp, while the annual pulp capacity in Frövi is about 280 thousand tons.

Korsnäs has long pursued a targeted strategy of focusing on highly processed products. As a result, paperboard has become the largest product area in terms of volume, with liquid packaging board used for beverage packaging and White Top Kraft Liner ("WTL") used as the outer layer in corrugated packaging, while cartonboard is used primarily for packaging cosmetics, luxury drinks, confectionery and frozen food.

Liquid packaging board

Liquid packaging board is used to manufacture packaging, primarily for dairy products and other beverages, a market that is continuing to develop strongly, mainly in Asia and Eastern Europe. Primarily, coated liquid packaging board is showing growth, as a result of end-users’ increased demand for print quality on the finished packaging.

Other major suppliers of liquid packaging board include Stora Enso and Klabin. There is also competition with other packaging materials, primarily plastic bottles. Korsnäs has multi-year contracts with a number of customers for deliveries of liquid packaging board, of which Tetra Pak is the largest. 

White Top Kraft Liner (WTL)

WTL is used as the surface layer on corrugated packaging. Long-term market growth level is approximately 3-4%. Korsnäs’ deliveries to the main markets in Europe represent approximately 15% of Korsnäs’ total sales volume. There are a number of suppliers on the market, with M-Real as the main competitor.

Cartonboard

Korsnäs cartonboard is used primarily in selected segments for packaging cosmetics, luxury drinks, confectionery and frozen food. The European cartonboard market is expanding at a rate of 2-3% annually. Competition in recent years has stiffened as a result of imports from low-cost countries such as Brazil and Chile. Competitors include Stora Enso, M-Real and Holmen.