Western Europe's largest - and the world's first custom-made - paper machine for the production of high brightness so-called MF Magazine paper was inaugurated at the end of September by the Swedish King, Carl XVI Gustaf. The plant in question is the Holmen-owned Hallsta Paper Mill in Hallstavik, 100 km north of Stockholm. This mill has invested a total of SEK 1.85 billion in its new paper machine, the PM 11. The result is the industry's most modern and cost-effective production plant ever within the product area. With a world-class speed - almost 2,000 metres a minute - 330,000 tonnes of this improved quality paper will be produced annually. The market for this wood-content printing paper - with better performance, printing characteristics and brightness than traditional newsprint paper - is primarily among high-quality periodicals, supplements and printed advertising materials.

A new winder and wire section are currently being installed at Holmen Paper's Hallsta Paper Mill plant in Hallstavik, some 100 km north of Stockholm. With this the company will have come approximately halfway in an investment which, in terms of infrastructure, is the largest made at the mill for almost 30 years and financially speaking is the largest since its establishment in 1915. With the investment in a totally new PM 11 and the extensive modernisation of paper machine 12, Holmen Paper will have invested almost SEK 4 billion over a five year period. The result will be one of the world's most modern plants for high quality newsprint and machine-finished magazine paper. The company is aiming at the more demanding end of the consumer market. The investment will also be a magnificent example of an advanced and complex building project. In February-March, 650-850 fitters will be working alongside the mill's 1,000 permanent employees during a 70 day long shutdown in order to be ready in time for a test run in April. The formal inauguration will take place in September 2002.

After the largest investment for more than 30 years, the first paper was reeled off at the Holmen-owned Hallsta Paper Mill in Hallstavik, 100 km north of Stockholm, Sweden. The start was also an impressive display of the advanced planning and time management of a reconstruction and investment project implemented parallel to the mill's ongoing production. A thousand extra workers and perfect "just-in-time-deliveries" were needed during the 70 days available for production stops, which in industry terms is an extremely short period. One result of the now completed investment, which approached SEK 2.3 billion, is one of the world's most modern plants for high-quality paper for newspapers and magazines.