DUBLIN, Ireland - Smurfit Kappa announced this week that it will invest 27 million Euros on its Sangüesa site in Northern Spain to transform its PM1 machine currently producing 65 kT of virgin fibre based containerboard (Karpan liner), into PM4, a 30 kT virgin brown machine glazed paper.

The investment is driven by sustained growth on high performance, specialized MG markets, where Smurfit Kappa has developed unrivalled expertise and reputation. After completion of the investment the mill will have the ability to offer to its worldwide customers an even wider span of grades and grammages with applications starting as low as 28 grams per square meter, including highly specialized ultra-lightweight food contact containerboard.

The rebuild will last 12 weeks. The project is expected to start up during the course of 2016, and will allow to consolidate the Sangüesa mill as one of the very few worldwide fully MG focused unit with close to 90 kT of production in total.

This transformation will conversely withdraw from the market 65 kT of virgin fiber based containerboard, with PM1 discontinuing its production.

Smurfit Kappa said the continuity of supply will be guaranteed from its mill system, and predominantly from its Facture kraftliner mill in France due to geographical proximity to the Iberian peninsula, at present the main market for this grade.