KUCHING: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan has urged the Swedish company Holmen AB to expand its operations in Sarawak.
He highlighted the state’s abundant forest plantation resources and competitive green energy tariffs as key advantages for establishing a thermo mechanical pulp mill.
In a statement, Awang Tengah’s proposal aims to leverage Sarawak’s assets to attract international forestry and pulp industries. His visit to Holmen AB’s forest plantation and thermo mechanical pulp and paper mill, was part of a study to understand how Sweden’s private forest owners combine forest management with downstream processing.
Holmen AB specialises in forest management, home construction materials, pulp, paper, and renewable energy. During the tour, he learned about the company’s seedling production, planting, silviculture practices and harvesting processes.
At the integrated thermo mechanical pulp (TMP) and paper mill, officials informed him that the facility, with a capacity of 500,000 adt, consumes approximately 983,000 m³ of timber annually. About 75 per cent of this comes from sustainably managed pulp grade logs, with the remainder being sawmill residues.
The mill is continually updated to incorporate cutting-edge technology, achieving high automation levels and ensuring zero waste discharge. Holmen’s pulp is utilised to create innovative paper products for books, magazines, and specialised packaging for food and cosmetics.
With Holmen’s main markets in Europe and Asia, including Japan and China, Awang Tengah also proposed Sarawak as a potential distribution hub to enhance the company’s reach in the Asia Pacific region.
Holmen AB is among Sweden’s largest private forest owners, managing 1.3 million hectares, of which approximately 1 million are sustainably cultivated for wood production, with the rest dedicated to biodiversity conservation.
