Helsinki, Finland 04 July 2016 -- UPM invests EUR 98 million in Kymi pulp mill in Finland to further strengthen its position as a supplier of bleached chemical pulp for growing consumer and industrial end-use segments like tissue, specialty as well as packaging papers and board.

"Over the past three years we have significantly improved the production efficiency of our pulp mills. This EUR 98 million investment in Kymi will strengthen our position on the pulp market with competitive costs and low risk. After the completion of this project, we will have increased our annual pulp production capacity altogether by over 500,000 tonnes since 2013," says Heikki Vappula, Executive Vice President, UPM Biorefining.

"After the successful start-up of the new pulp drying machine at the end of 2015, Kymi's efficiency has been on a very good level and we identified potential for even further increases in production. Today's announcement is yet another example of highly targeted investments that provide a good return, which we have implemented in all our three pulp mills in Finland - Pietarsaari, Kymi and Kaukas - and in the Fray Bentos mill in Uruguay," says Anssi Klinga, Senior Vice President, UPM Pulp.

Kymi's annual pulp production capacity is expected to increase from the current 700,000 tonnes to 870,000 tonnes of bleached northern softwood and birch pulp by the end of 2017. Moreover, the new investment will further improve Kymi's cost-competitiveness and environmental performance.

The investment at Kymi mill will begin immediately, comprising upgrades in wood handling, the birch fibre line, recovery plant and effluent treatment. New machinery will be connected to the process during the next pulp mill shut-down planned for the autumn of 2017.

In UPM's Kaukas mill in Lappeenranta, Finland, assembly work on the currently ongoing EUR 50 million investment in pulp drying and baling will take place during a planned shutdown in the autumn, followed by start-up scheduled for the end of 2016.

During the past few years UPM Pulp has established a strong position on the pulp market and developed a versatile and attractive pulp portfolio with an appealing service offering. UPM's competitive and modern mills are in excellent shape and provide a perfect platform for further growth in cooperation with customers.

UPM Kymi

UPM Kymi is a modern and environmentally efficient mill integrate producing pulp, paper and energy. Kymi produces bleached softwood and hardwood kraft pulp as well as coated and uncoated fine paper. UPM Kymi employs about 700 people and is located in south-east Finland in Kouvola. www.upmpulp.com > About us > Pulp mills > Kymi, www.upmkymi.fi

UPM Pulp

UPM is one of the world's leading producers of northern softwood, birch and eucalyptus pulp. We supply global customers in end use segments such as tissue, specialty, and packaging as well as printing and writing papers, and board, through our own sales and technical service network close to customers. UPM Pulp operates four modern pulp mills, three in Finland and one in Uruguay, as well as eucalyptus plantations in Uruguay. UPM Pulp employs approximately 1,500 people. The annual pulp production capacity is 3.5 million tonnes. Pulp Business is part of the UPM Biorefining Business Area. www.upmpulp.com

UPM

Through the renewing of the bio and forest industries, UPM is building a sustainable future across six business areas: UPM Biorefining, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Paper Asia, UPM Paper ENA and UPM Plywood. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. We serve our customers worldwide. The group employs around 19,600 people and its annual sales are approximately EUR 10 billion. UPM shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. UPM - The Biofore Company - www.upm.com