Metsä Board Makes Improvements


Espoo, Finland 25 April 2013 -- Metsä Board has made major enhancements to its Avanta Prima, Simcote and Carta Elega folding boxboards, following technical improvements made at its mills during the 2011–2012 investment programme. The product enhancements improve the suitability of each cartonboard in the range for a particular packaging end-use such as food; beautycare; healthcare; or luxury packaging and graphics applications.

“We are responding to customer needs by making our world class boards even more fit-for-purpose,” says Pasi Piiparinen, Head of Metsä Board Paperboard, Europe’s leading producer of fresh forest fibre cartonboards. “Developments include better yield, optimised shades and improved surfaces, according to the requirements of each end-use.”

The bulk of Avanta Prima has been improved, meaning a lighter weight can be specified whilst maintaining the same thickness and stiffness. As a result Metsä Board has further light-weighted grammages across the range. Avanta Prima has been developed to meet the requirements of the healthcare market, and its surface has now been optimised to allow for 2D data matrix coding. Its shade has also been optimised to enhance visual whiteness.

Simcote, already offering an outstanding combination of stiffness and consistency for food packaging, now has improved bulk for even better yield while maintaining the same thickness and stiffness. As a result, grammages have been light-weighted across the range, providing both cost and sustainability benefits.

The shade of Carta Elega has been optimised to enhance visual whiteness – an important characteristic in the beautycare market.

“We are happy to be able to offer our customers these changes, giving better performance in converting and printing, as well as an improved end result. They will also be able to utilise an even lighter weight board, achieving the same or even better performance in a finished carton,” adds Pasi Piiparinen. “Using a lighter weight board also offers sustainability benefits, as less raw material is used, less weight carried throughout the value chain and less waste is generated.”

The enhanced board range can be ordered starting mid-May, with availability from June 2013.

www.metsagroup.com

Metsä Group is a responsible forest industry group whose products are part of people’s everyday life and promote sustainable well-being. Metsä Group produces high-quality products mainly from renewable Nordic wood. The Group’s business areas are tissue and cooking papers, board and paper, pulp, wood products as well as wood supply. Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.0 billion in 2012, and it employs approximately 11,500 people. The Group is present in some 30 countries.

www.metsaboard.com

Metsä Board is Europe’s leading producer of fresh forest fibre cartonboards, the world’s leading manufacturer of coated white-top kraftliners, and a major paper supplier. The company’s sales network serves brand owners, carton printers, corrugated packaging manufacturers, printers, merchants and office suppliers.

Metsä Board supports its customers’ businesses by providing high-performance paperboards and quality papers for consumer and retail packaging, graphics and office end-uses. Together with its customers and partners, Metsä Board develops products and services for demanding end uses. The company’s paperboard is mainly used for the packaging of beautycare and healthcare products, foods, cigarettes, and consumer durables as well as graphics. Paper is mainly used for office papers as well as wallcoverings and other speciality end uses.

Metsä Board’s business areas are Paperboard, and Paper and Pulp.

Metsä Board is headquartered in Finland. In 2012, the company’s sales totalled EUR 2.1 billion, and it has approximately 3,300 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.