Skogn is one of the largest newsprint mills in Europe. It was founded in 1962 and the first newsprint machine started its production in 1966.

Serving customers worldwide, the mill has its own port facilities and operates regular lines to the UK and continental Europe.

The company said the strategic move would diversify its portfolio at Skogn, leveraging a NOK 40m (£2.9m) investment in paper machine 1 (PM1) to enable it to flexibly produce and switch between both newsprint and high-quality book paper with a capacity of over 140,000 tonnes.

In collaboration with technology group Andritz, which will carry out the conversion of PM1, the company said the project will launch in Q2 2026 and will enable production of bulky, bright, and sustainable book paper using 100% virgin fibre and the company’s premium thermomechanical pulp.

With successful trial runs completed with "satisfying results" and “industry-leading low CO2 emissions”, Norske Skog said NOR Book is set to meet the stable European demand for wood-containing book paper of around 400,000 tonnes per year.

Geir Drangsland, CEO of Norske Skog, added: “The project development team at Skogn has shown impressive creativity and entrepreneurial spirit.

“This will diversify the mill’s product portfolio, enable a shift into markets with stable demand outlook, and improve the long-term competitiveness of the mill. We have received very positive feedback from potential customers and look forward to introducing our new product and become a top three supplier of book paper in Europe.”

This transition will gradually reduce newsprint exports to Asia “while maintaining seamless newsprint deliveries,” Norske Skog added.

375 people work at Skogn, which operates three paper machines and can also produce Interliner, the liner which lies between the flutes in double wall corrugated cardboard.