Södra — an economic association comprising more than 51,000 forest owners in Sweden and having
production activities in the areas of wood products for construction and interiors, wood pulp, and
energy — is now producing hardwood-based textile pulp at one of its pulp mills, and expects to
produce 170,000 metric tons of textile pulp annually once that operation reaches full capacity.
Södra has been producing wood pulp for reinforcement and paper applications since the late
1950s. In December 2010, it decided to invest in textile pulp production, and has been implementing
the investment and developing a marketing organization to serve the textile segment. The textile
pulp, derived from hardwoods such as birch and aspen, will be supplied to viscose fiber
manufacturers.
“We are focusing on textile pulp as this is a growing market to which we can supply a
certified, renewable forest raw material,” said Gunilla Saltin, president, Södra Cell.
The company also plans to expand textile pulp production to an additional pulp line that is
producing paper pulp at one of its other mills.
March/April 2012
