Stora Enso Oyj Press Release 20 October 2004 at 10:00 GMT
Stora Enso has approved implementation of the second phase of the North European Transport Supply System (NETSS), which will start in the third quarter of 2006 and is expected to reduce costs by at least 15% from the current level of about EUR 80 million per year starting from year 2007.
In the second phase of NETSS, the present shipping services from northern Finland to the UK, Belgium and Germany will be replaced by a new system that will connect the ports of Ajos (near Kemi) and Oulu with Lübeck and Gothenburg, which serves as the hub for onward transport to the UK and Belgium. Three RoRo vessels will operate this three-times-per-week service, which will carry overseas containers in addition to the basic cargo of paper products in SECUs (Stora Enso Cargo Units).
Stora Enso intends to enter into a 15-year agreement with B&N Nordsjöfrakt AB to charter three new vessels which are taken into operation during the second half of 2006. They will be general RoRo vessels adapted for SECU carriage and with special attention to ice performance and winter conditions in the Baltic Sea.
A long-term plan for port usage on the continent will be developed and ready for implementation in time for the start of the second phase.
Stora Enso will expand its fleet of SECUs by another 800 units to carry the cargo from northern Finland. The total number of SECUs in NETSS when the second phase is complete will be 2 750.
On 14 January 2004 Stora Enso announced the first phase of NETSS in which the cargo flows from southern Finland to the UK and Belgium will be concentrated to the port of Kotka. Two RoRo vessels will feed paper products from Kotka to Gothenburg three times a week. Its intended start-up date is 1 July 2005.
For further information please contact:
Lars-Gunnar Almryd, Senior Vice President, Stora Enso Transport and Distribution, tel. +46 8 613 6620
Antti Vehviläinen, Vice President, Stora Enso Transport and Distribution, tel. +358 2046 21375
Stig Wiklund, Director Development and Project Leader NETSS, Stora Enso Transport and Distribution,
tel. +46 8 613 6618
