Stora Enso has launched the second phase of a joint transport supply system at its Nordic mills to improve cost efficiency and service.
The second phase of the North European Transport Supply System (NETSS), to be implemented during 2006, is expected to reduce the company’s annual transport costs by at least 15% from the current level of about €80m.
It will involve present shipping services from northern Finland to the UK, Belgium and Germany being replaced by a new system connecting the ports of Ajos and Oulu with Lübeck and Gothenburg, which serves as the hub for onward transport to the UK and Belgium. Three ships will use the route three times per week.
Stora Enso intends to enter into a 15-year agreement with B&N Nordsjöfrakt AB to charter the new ro ro vessels, to go operational during the second half of 2006. The general ro ro vessels will be designed to deal with icy conditions in the Baltic Sea.
The company will expand its fleet of Stora Enso Cargo Units by 800 to carry the cargo from Northern Finland.
The first phase of NETSS involved cargo flows from southern Finland to the UK and Belgium being concentrated on Kotka.
