Norske Skog to enter tissue market via joint venture

Norske Skog’s President and CEO in the company’s second quarter earnings report announced plans to convert a newsprint machine (PM 3) at the company’s Bruck paper mill in Austria to tissue production through a joint venture deal with Italian tissue converter Roto-cart.

The total investment for the machine conversion project is around EUR 80 million, with project financing of 75% debt and 25% equity.

Sven Ombudstvedt about joint venture

“We are entering the tissue market through a joint venture structure with an experienced partner, which limits the market risk and the capital spend for Norske Skog,” Sven Ombudstvedt said. “The joint venture will replace newsprint production at Bruck with tissue. Thus, supporting the market balance for newsprint and exposing Norske Skog towards the growing market for tissue.”

The Bruck mill is located in in Styria, Austria, and currently produces newsprint (128,000 tpy) on PM 3 and lightweight coated (275,000 tpy) grades on PM 4.

In the picture: Sven Ombudstvedt, President and CEO in Norske Skog