Already 100 years of accumulated expertise

Botnia was founded 30 years ago, and the oldest part of Botnia, Kemi Osakeyhtiö, was founded over 110 years ago. Traditions are numerous in Joutseno, as well - the mill was founded in 1908.

Botnia's tale started in Kaskinen in 1973

Metsä-Botnia was founded in 1973 for the purpose of building a pulp mill in Kaskinen. The founders of the company were financing company Metsäpohjanmaa, Nokia, and G.A. Serlachius. The manufacture of bleached sulphate pulp commenced in Kaskinen in August, 1977.

Äänekoski was built in 1985

The second mill was build in Äänekoski. Upon its completion in 1985, the Äänekoski mill was one of the largest and most efficient single-line pulp mills in the world. In the design of the mill, special attention was paid to the protection of waterways and to the creation of a functional, high quality factory milieu.

Chlorine-free bleaching was developed in the 1980's

The production capacity of Metsä-Botnia mills has been increased systematically through equipment and process investments. These investments have also improved the level of environmental protection. At the end of the 1980s, a far-reaching decision was made to start to develop a bleaching process in which gaseous chlorine would be replaced by oxygen compounds.

In 1991 Kemi was purchased

In 1986, Metsäliitto Teollisuus and G.A Serlachius merged and founded Metsä-Serla which became the principal owner of Botnia. The next change in the ownersip base occurred in 1989. Nokia relinquished its ownership, and United Papermills became the second primary owner. The pulp and board manufacturer Kemi Oy  was bought by Botnia in 1991. The Äänekoski pulp mill was separated from Botnia and became the independent Metsä-Sellu corporation owned by Metsä-Serla.

• In 1989, the production of ECF (Elemental Chlorine Free) pulp bleached with oxygen compounds and chlorine dioxide was launched in Kaskinen.
• At the end of 1991, the first batches of TCF (Totally Chlorine Free) pulp were manufactured in Kaskinen. No chlorine compounds at all are used in the bleaching of TCF pulp.

In 1996 we built Metsä-Rauma

Soon after developing chlorine-free bleaching, the principal owners of Botnia decided to build a greenfield pulp mill in Rauma. Founded as a separate company, Oy Metsä-Rauma Ab went on stream in 1996, and at the time it was the biggest producer of softwood  pulp on a single line. Metsä-Rauma was merged with Botnia at the end of 2000.

Joutseno Pulp was bought in 1997

The bases for Botnia’s growth have been growing profits and a steadily improving balance sheet. In 1997, Botnia acquired the Joutseno Pulp mill from UPM Kymmene, and, at the same time, ownership of the Äänekoski mill was transferred back to Botnia.

Russian sawmill Svir Timber was started in 2006

The Svir Timber saw mill was started in Podporozhje, Russia in 2006. Svir Timber is Botnia's fully-owned subsidiary which additionally owns two Russian wood procurement companies, ZAO Petrovles-Pasha ja ZAO Petrovles Podporozhje.

Fray Bentos pulp mill started production in Uruguay in November 2007

The greenfield pulp mill in Fray Bentos, Western Uruguay, started in November 2007. The mill increased Botnia's production capacity with 1 million tonnes of bleached eucalyptus pulp.

New ownership structure

The Fray Bentos pulp mill was divested to UPM-Kymmene in December 2009, and at the same time the ownership of UPM in Botnia was reduced to 17 percent, and the share of Metsäliitto and M-real increased to 83 percent.

Significant market pulp producer

During the years, Botnia has grown from a one mill company supplying mainly to its owner companies to a significant market pulp producer.

The combined production capacity of own mills is 2.7 million tonnes, and in addition Botnia markets pulps of M-real, UPM-Kymmene and Cenibra to global customers. Approximately half of the pulp is sold to owners and the other half to market customers.

Botnia's global marketing network

Botnia has been handling the marketing of the pulp it produces since 1994. Botnia has sales offices in Wiesbaden, Germany and in Shanghai, China. In other market areas, the marketing is handled by agents.