KaiCell Fibers Moving Ahead with Plans for Bio-Pulp Mill in Finland

KaiCell Fibers, Finland, this past week confirmed its plans to develop a new "BioFutureFactory" mill site with the Paltamo municipality in the Kainuu region of Finland. According to KaiCell Fibers, the project involves a novel bioecosystem, which will produce novel pulp products that will solve environmental challenges in target markets. The KaiCell project is moving forward with the next steps—a feasibility study and environmental impact assessment.

Tapping into the Kainuu region's extensive and currently under-utilized fiber wood resources, KaiCell Fibers says that it intends to build a state-of-the-art sulfate pulp mill as the core component in a bio-industrial park designed to accommodate downstream operators, who will add further value to the mill’s output and benefit from available synergies, such as energy.

The venture started at the initiative of Kainuun Liitto (The Regional Council of Kainuu) in response to concerns by forest owners and other bio-economy stakeholders that the region’s sustainable annual growth in fiber wood was not being converted into economic benefits for the area.

To keep the pulp mill’s wood requirement in balance with what can be sourced within the region itself—thus avoiding costly long-distance logistics—KaiCell Fibers emphasizes that it will not aim to join the million ton league, but instead focus on total value created at the site.