Metsä Wood, the wood products division of Finland-headed forest industry major Metsä Group, has officially begun production at its new birch plywood mill in Pärnu, Estonia. "The mill investment project has proceeded according to schedule in Finland and Estonia. Now we are commencing a very important phase during which the mill will be ramped up to its full capacity," said Esa Kaikkonen, Executive Vice President, Metsä Wood.
According to the company, there is around 75 staff working at the Pärnu mill with production running in three shifts five days per week. Twelve new employees will start in September. The mill is expected to run at full capacity, 50 000 m3 birch plywood per annum, by the end of 2019.
Until this point, we have run test production at the mill, and the feedback of the quality has been excellent. I am pleased to say that we have had very motivated and professional people working with us in this demanding project and now running the mill in Pärnu, said Esa Kaikkonen.
Currently located in Finland, the birch plywood upgrading mill will be transferred from Suolahti plywood mill to Pärnu by the end of January 2019. At that point, there is a need for 30 more employees and the training will continue.
This year has been a very intensive work period for our people in Pärnu. In addition to the ramp-up of the mill, there have been many systems and ways of working implemented in a very short period of time, said Kaarel Tali, Mill Director of Metsä Wood Pärnu mill.
The Pärnu birch plywood mill is part of Metsä Wood’s EUR 100 million investment program executed during 2017–2018 that was published in June 2016. The new mill will create approximately 200 jobs to Pärnu.
The birch veneers used in Pärnu are manufactured in Äänekoski, Finland and converted into plywood at the Pärnu mill. The aim of the new veneer mill is to serve the production of Pärnu as efficiently as possible.
