Norske Skog Taking Temporary Downtime at Bruck Paper Mill Due to High Energy Prices

March 9, 2022 - Norske Skog today announced temporary downtime has been initiated at its Bruck paper mill in Styria, Austria, due to "unaffordability of operations in the current energy environment."

The company said that the new boiler scheduled for start-up in April is expected to help alleviate the situation by reducing the mill's gas consumption and improve its energy supply. The boiler project and the packaging conversion project at the Bruck mill continue as planned.

The Bruck mill has two paper machines, PM 3 and PM 4. PM 3 has the capacity to produce 125,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of newsprint, while PM 4 has the capacity to produce 260,000 tpy of lightweight coated (LWC) grades.

"Bruck has delivered newsprint and LWC magazine paper to its customers despite a challenging energy market since the second half of 2021," said Sven Ombudstvedt, President and CEO of Norske Skog. "Although we have secured parts of the mill's energy supply in March, the energy prices we presently experience make operations at Bruck unsustainable.

Editor's note: Norske Skog has approved EUR 100 million to convert PM 3's production from newsprint to 210,000 tpy of recycled containerboard. The machine will be shut down for three months beginning in 3Q 2022 for the conversion project.

Norske Skog is a leading producer of publication paper with strong market positions and customer relations in Europe and Australasia. The Norske Skog Group operates four mills in Europe, two of which will produce recycled containerboard following ongoing conversion projects. In addition, the Group operates one paper mill in Australia. To learn more, visit: www.norskeskog.com.

SOURCE: Norske Skog