UPM: Финляндияның ормандар индустриясының тарихы мен дамуы

Finnish forest industry company

UPM is the owner and maintainer of the Verla mill, which has been a museum since 1972 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.

The company's oldest mill was Papeteries de Docelles located in northeastern France, which produced traditional handpaper at the end of 15th century. The mill got its first paper making machine in the 1830s. UPM Docelles was disbanded in 2014. The company has a long tradition of forest industries in Finland. There the company's first paper mills and sawmills were put into operation in the beginning of the 1870s. Pulp manufacturing began in the 1880s and paper converting in the 1920s. The company started manufacturing plywood in the 1930s. Several Finnish forest industry companies have merged with the forerunner companies of UPM, such as: Walkiakoski, Jämsänkoski, Kaukas, Halla, Kajaani, Toppila, Kymmene, Kuusankoski, Kymi, Voikkaa, Lohjan Paperi Oy, Wilh. Schauman, W. Rosenlew, Raf. Haarla and Myllykoski. The company logo, the griffin, was designed by Hugo Simberg in 1899. It is probable that the griffin was chosen as the company logo because it represents a guardian of the northern forests. The griffin logo is the oldest continuous company logo in Finland. After the closure the area has been transformed into Voikkaa business area. The Miramichi paper mill in New Brunswick, which UPM acquired in 2000, was closed in 2007. Also a number of plywood mills and sawmills were closed during the years. In December 2008 UPM closed Kajaani paper mill and Tervasaari pulp mill in Valkeakoski. 1,100 employees were laid off. The former premises of the Kajaani mill were turned into a business park called Renforsin Ranta.

The overcapacity continued in graphic paper business and in 2011, UPM acquired Myllykoski Corporation and Rhein Papier GmbH, which consists of seven publication paper mills in Germany, Finland and the United States. In France, UPM closed Stracel paper mill in 2013 and Docelles paper mill in 2014. Madison paper mill in the USA was closed in 2016. The Schwedt paper mill in Germany was sold in 2017. Specialty paper production expanded to China and Germany in 2015 and 2019, respectively. Kaipola paper mill in Finland was closed in 2020. In 2015, the production of wood based biofuels started at the biorefinery in Lappeenranta, Finland. In July 2019, UPM announced that it will invest US$2.7 billion in a eucalyptus pulp mill near Paso de los Toros in central Uruguay. The new pulp mill was started up in April 2023 with a total investment of US$3.47 billion and has a production capacity of 2.1 million tonnes of pulp per year. This is the second pulp mill the company opened in Uruguay, after the UPM Fray Bentos, which makes 1.3 million tonnes of pulp per year. In January 2020, UPM announced that it will invest EUR 550 million in an industrial scale biorefinery to convert solid wood into next generation biochemicals: bio monoethylene glycol (BioMEG) and lignin based renewable functional fillers. The biorefinery will also produce bio monopropyleneglycol (BioMPG) and industrial sugars. The total annual capacity of the biorefinery will be 220,000 tonnes. The facility is scheduled to start up by the end of 2023. The capital expenditure estimate has been increased to EUR 750 million.

UPM Fibres consists of pulp and timber businesses. UPM has five modern pulp mills: three in Finland and two in Uruguay, and also four sawmills in Finland. The pulp mills produce 5.8 million tons of high quality pulp annually. 27% of the company's comparable EBIT came from UPM Fibres in 2022. In 2018, UPM launched brand promise 'UPM Biofore – Beyond fossils'. In 2021 UPM stated its purpose: 'We create a future beyond fossils'.

UPM's products are manufactured in 11 countries and the company has a worldwide sales network. UPM's production plants are located in Austria, China, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Malaysia, Poland, UK, Uruguay and USA.

UPM has two production units in China: UPM Changshu paper mill and UPM Raflatac, Changshu Labelstock factory. Changshu is located in the Province of Jiangsu by the Yangtze River, some 100 km from Shanghai.

UPM has one production unit in France. The UPM Raflatac labelstock factory located in Pompey, 10 km north of Nancy and 40 km south of Metz.

UPM has two production units in the United Kingdom. UPM Caledonian paper mill, located in Irvine, North Ayrshire a coastal town in southwestern Scotland, 30 mile (48 km) from Glasgow. UPM Raflatac labelstock factory, located in Scarborough.

UPM has a pulp mill in Fray Bentos, Uruguay. The mill produces bleached hardwood kraft pulp (BHKP) from eucalyptus and renewable energy in their recovery boilers and provides CO2 neutral biomass based electricity for the Uruguayan markets. In 2011 UPM expanded plantation grounds in Uruguay. In February 2011, UPM announced a plan to build a second nursery in Uruguay to secure the availability of high quality seedlings and seed material. Argentina and Uruguay had a conflict regarding UPM emissions in 2013. In 2020, UPM began the construction of its third nursery in Uruguay, located in Central Uruguay. The nursery, to be completed in 2022, will have an annual production capacity of more than 10 million seedlings. Currently, UPM contaminates water courses in Uruguay while consuming more potable water than the whole population of the country. Metsä Botnia, a part of Metsä Group, opened Fray Bentos factory in Uruguay in 2007. Until the end of 2009 the owners of Metsä Botnia were M real 30%, Metsä Group (ex Metsäliitto = Finn Forest) 23% and UPM Kymmene (UPM) 47%, and since the end of 2009, UPM 91% and Metsä Group 9%.

UPM is developing new business on wood based biofuels for transport. The brand name for the biofuels of UPM is UPM BioVerno. The production concepts are based on non food raw materials and they result in a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The UPM Biofuels surpass both the EU and Finnish requirements for sustainable biofuels.

UPM has invested in a biorefinery producing biofuels from crude tall oil in Lappeenranta, Finland. The biorefinery produces annually approximately 130,000 tonnes of advanced second generation biodiesel for transport. Construction of the biorefinery began in the summer of 2012 at UPM's Kaukas mill site and was completed in 2014. UPM's total investment amounted to approximately EUR 179 million. The construction of the biorefinery offered work for nearly 200 people for approximately two years. The biorefinery directly employs nearly 50 people and indirectly about 150 people. Development is currently ongoing, with the aim of expanding the biofuels business with new types of technology concepts and biomass based raw materials. In January 2021, UPM started the basic engineering phase of a potential new biorefinery, with site option assessment primarily in two locations: Kotka, Finland and Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In January 2022 UPM decided that the work continues in Rotterdam.

UPM ProFi composite is a Biofore material that combines the characteristics of cellulose fibres and plastic. Manufactured mainly from recycled raw material, the composite is suitable for use in patios, terraces, piers and playgrounds. The material does not require polishing, lacquer finishing or other surface finishing. The material was a result of UPM's own research and product development. UPM ProFi has been used in the manufacture of a pedestrian walkway in the previously historic city of Ghent, Belgium.

UPM Formi is a recyclable and odorless composite which can be used to replace plastic in many instances. UPM Formi composite granulates are manufactured from clean polymers and pulp. UPM offers the granulates in three grades for injection molding – Formi GP for general use, Formi SP for special surface, and Formi TP for technical applications. The UPM Formi material has already been used in the manufacture of a mobile phone microscope, launched by KeepLoop Oy. The Finnish company, MySoda, designs and manufactures the first ever sparkling water makers made of wood based biocomposite, UPM Formi EcoAce. The biocomposite is made using certified renewable fibres and polymers derived from UPM BioVerno naphtha.