Helsinki, Finland, 29 September 2010 -- Stora Enso is continuing to expand in solid biofuels by investing EUR 10 million to start pellet production at its Imavere sawmill in Estonia. The pellet plant project will commence in the fourth quarter of 2010 and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011.

“This investment is part of our strategy to grow in solid biofuels with the aim of becoming the leading integrated supplier of pellets in Northern Europe. With this investment we are targeting industrial and residential customers through our already established distribution and marketing channels, for example in Sweden, which is the largest pellet market in Europe. Imavere is also very well located to start serving the pellet market in southern Finland,” said Hannu Kasurinen, executive vice president, Stora Enso Wood Products.

The annual capacity of the plant will be 100,000 metric tons of pellets. The pellet production will be fully self-sufficient in raw material and will use by-products from the sawmill and further processing operations.

“Imavere is one of our core sawmill sites, with a strong business concept and good basis for future development. Through this investment we will further enhance the sawmill's long-term competitiveness,” Kasurinen said.

The annual capacity of Imavere Sawmill is 400,00 m³ of sawn wood, joinery components, and glue-laminated beams. Stora Enso Wood Products already produces pellets at four sites in Sweden and Russia, with total annual capacity of 310,000 metric tons.

Stora Enso Wood Products is an internationally operating business and part of the Stora Enso Group, providing a wide portfolio of wood-based products and solutions for building, decorative, and packaging uses. Wood Products employs some 4500 people in 22 production sites in 11 European countries and in several sales and distribution companies around the world, and had annual sales of EUR 1.5 billion in 2009.

Stora Enso is a global paper, packaging, and wood products company producing newsprint and book paper, magazine paper, fine paper, consumer board, industrial packaging, and wood products. The Group is the world leader in forest industry sustainability. Stora Enso is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the FTSE4Good Index. Stora Enso employs some 27,000 people worldwide, and had EUR 8.9 billion in sales in 2009. Stora Enso shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) in the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. For additional information, visit www.storaenso.com.