Finnpulp’s bioproduction mill, once released, will have a significant economic influence and improving impact on the welfare of Northern Savonia region in Eastern Finland. The world largest softwood pulp mill, with approximately 600M€ annual export sales, will immediately contribute to national export income by one per cent.
The improvement will exceed a ten-percentage influence on total production locally, including both direct and indirect economic growth. Finnpulp’s bioelectricity production of 1 TWh, transferred to the national power grid, is equivalent approximately to one percentage of the national electricity production and is equivalent to five percentage of the national bioenergy production.
Total capital investment of 1.6bn€ is equivalent to 5700 man-years of employment during building period. Furthermore, the investment represents up to 2–3 years of all investments in Northern Savonia region. Once in operation, the direct employment impact will be 1 500 new permanent jobs locally and 3 400 nationally when all the value chain related advantages, including the transportation and services the mill requires, are considered. The plant will employ 200 persons directly.
The greatest impact of Finnpulp’s operation will be directed to forestry, transportation, and paper industry. The project will significantly increase wood harvesting in the area due to the pulpwood need of 6.7 Mm3 per year. In addition, the multiplicative effects to other sectors will be notable. According to estimation, the salary impact of a new plant to Northern Savonia will be approximately 200M€, which is 3% of the area’s total salary incomes.
