Stora Enso Oyj - Company Announcement

Stora Enso to build demonstration plant in Louisiana, USA

Helsinki, Finland, 2014-09-02 20:15 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STORA ENSO OYJ
STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 2 September 2014 at 21.15 EET 

Following its recent acquisition of the US-based biotechnology company Virdia,
Stora Enso is investing EUR 32 million (USD 43 million) in a demonstration and
market development plant to be built at Raceland, Louisiana, USA. The plant
will be used for industrial validation of the newly acquired extraction and
separation technology developed by Virdia that enables cellulosic biomass, such
as wood or agricultural waste, to be converted into highly refined sugars. The
investment serves the feasibility of the technology on industrial scale in the
future, possibly also in some of Stora Enso's existing pulp mills. 

The demonstration plant will be located in the vicinity of existing sugar cane
plantations and will use bagasse waste as feedstock.  Sugar cane bagasse is a
sustainable, non-genetically-modified  feedstock that does not compete with
food. It will be used to produce high purity five-carbon sugars and in
particular xylose. These sugars will be converted and upgraded for applications
in, for example, food and personal care. 

“This investment marks the next step in our strategy for new markets and
applications. It will enable validation of the technology developed by Virdia
and its applicability to different types of biomass. Our goal is to develop and
commercialise cost-effective renewable solutions to address well-identified
market-driven needs and add value to our current cellulosic streams,” says Juan
Carlos Bueno, EVP, Stora Enso Biomaterials. 

The Raceland demonstration plant is scheduled to start production early 2017.


For further information, please contact:

Juan Carlos Bueno, EVP, Stora Enso Biomaterials, tel. +55 11 3065 5223
Ulla Paajanen-Sainio, SVP, Investor Relations, tel. +358 2046 21242
Kirsi Seppäläinen, Head of Communications and Sustainability, Stora Enso
Biomaterials, 
tel. +358 2046 21444



www.storaenso.com
www.storaenso.com/investors

Stora Enso is the global rethinker of the paper, biomaterials, wood products
and packaging industry. We always rethink the old and expand to the new to
offer our customers innovative solutions based on renewable materials. Stora
Enso employs some 29 000 people worldwide, and our sales in 2013 amounted to
EUR 10.6 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (STEAV,
STERV) and Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the
USA as ADRs (SEOAY) in the International OTCQX over-the-counter market. 

STORA ENSO OYJ