Södra to invest in textile pulp production
The investment to produce dissolving pulp at Södra Cell Mörrum mill will involve converting pulp line 1, which is currently used to produce paper pulp. At full capacity, the Mörrum mill will produce 170,000 tons of dissolving pulp based on hardwood. The production of dissolving pulp will gradually increase to compensate lost paper pulp volumes as a result of the development of digital media.As Papernet's swedish news service reported December 9, Södra strongly believes in the potential of the dissolving pulp market, and especially in the textile fibers segment.“The demand for renewable, wood-based textile fiber will increase, as it replaces cotton fiber and oil-based synthetic fiber,” said Gunilla Saltin, CEO of Södra Cell.The investment at Mörrum will give Södra competitive dissolving pulp production based on hardwood. However, Södra will also continue to produce paper pulp based on birch at its mill in Mönsterås.Work on the conversion in Mörrum will begin immediately with production expected to start by the end of 2011. Existing production will not be affected during the construction period.