Metsä Group picks Äänekoski for packaging line, drops Kemi plans

Metsä Group will invest 25 million in a new packaging production line in Äänekoski, while abandoning plans for a textile fibre factory in Kemi, Yle reports.

The line will produce the company’s Muoto packages, which are made from Metsä Group’s own wood fibre. The company says the packages could replace plastic in more demanding food packaging applications.

According to Metsä Group, the packages can be shaped to meet customers’ needs and combine rigidity, functionality and lightness, making them suitable for food packaging.

The production line will be built next to the existing pilot plant at Metsä Group’s factory area in Äänekoski. It is scheduled to begin operating during 2028.

Rauma was also considered as a location, but Äänekoski was selected because of its existing infrastructure, production line and lower investment costs, the company says.

Kemi textile fibre plans abandoned

Metsä Group had also planned to build a factory in Kemi to produce wood-based textile fibre under the Kuura brand. The company has now abandoned those plans.

Metsä Group says the global market for wood-based textile fibres has quickly developed significant overcapacity. It also says there are currently not enough customers willing to pay a premium for responsibly produced materials.

The company cites the changed market situation as the reason the Kemi factory will not be built.