UPM_Biofore_Magazine2016_ENG_160623_e-magazine_72dpi

TEXT JAN HÖKERBERG

PHOTOGRAPHY TUOMAS UUSHEIMO

“Innovation and technology in China is moving fast and we want to be a part of it,” says Jussi Pesonen, President and CEO, UPM.

The EUR 277 million investment in PM3 at Changshu, China, means that UPM will focus on delivering value-added and advanced paper products across China and worldwide.

Valued at EUR 277 million, PM3 is the biggest

A fter two years of preparation, engineering work, construction, installations and trial runs, the time finally came for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the official inauguration of the brand new Paper Machine 3 (PM3) at the Changshumill in China. PM3 is the biggest investment in the UPMGroup over the past two years and is valued at EUR 277 million. Some 450 dignitaries, customers and suppliers were invited to the on-site grand opening event on 12 April. The festivities also included a traditional eye-dotting ceremony, in which UPM’s Chairman Björn Wahlroos and ZhouWeiqiang , Deputy Communist Party Secretary and Executive ViceMayor of Suzhou

A new era of excellence

Innovation at the forefront

City, dotted the eyes and forehead of a golden lion in a blessing that symbolises prosperity, wealth and good fortune. “As China continues to shift from being the factory of the world to an advancedmanufacturer, there’s a need for outstanding and responsible industrial practices and products. For UPM, our new era of excellence in Changshumeans that we will focus on delivering value-added, advanced paper products for new segments in China and worldwide,” said UPM’s President and CEO Jussi Pesonen in his inauguration speech. “At this site, we’re introducing totally new innovative manufacturing technology, not only for China but for the whole paper industry worldwide,” he added.

“In Changshu, we’re building an excellent platform for exploring future opportunities. We

investment made by the UPM Group over the past two years.

At a well-attended press conference with some 50 Chinese journalists, Pesonen pointed out that the world is changing because of the scarcity of resources, climate change, the power shift in the global economy towards Asia and,

at UPMbelieve that we can help to build a new sustainable and

innovative future by continuing to integrate the bio and forest industries,” Pesonen concluded. Other speakers included Zhou Weiqiang, the Changshu Party Secretary and ChangshuMayor Wang Yang , Finland’s Consul- General to Shanghai JanWahlberg , and the Executive Vice President for UPMPaper Asia Bernd Eikens .

not least, the digitalisation of media. “All these new challenges provide us with a lot of opportunities where we can use our knowledge and innovation to find new, more energy efficient, renewable and recycledmaterials and products as well as advanced high- quality biofuels based on wooden raw materials, which we are the first in the world to produce,” said Pesonen.

>>

26 | BIOFORE

2/2016  | 27