UPM RaumaCell fluff pulp experts serve the most demanding hygiene and airlaid industry customers with their truly unique offering.
Mill Director, Päivi Vihijärvi, describes UPM RaumaCell as a private entrepreneur under UPM’s broad wings. “We have the agility and flexibility of a small independent company, yet simultaneously we’ve got the support of a forest industry heavyweight. Since last year, we have been a part of UPM Pulp business.”
UPM RaumaCell has a rich history. The pulp mill was founded in 1920 to a Finnish coastal city of Rauma and in 1967 it branched out also to fluff pulp. In 1991, the mill made a dramatic change by ending their own pulp cooking and concentrated on fluff pulp using baled pulp from other mills. This turned out to become their biggest competitive edge. By handpicking pulps from the market, UPM RaumaCell is able to tailor their products precisely to meet customers’ requirements. “The fibres of our fluff pulp have been dried twice. The double processing makes the fibres more flexible and softer, giving them excellent shreddability, runnability and absorption properties. We are the only mill in the world producing fluff this way,” Päivi says.
A passionate pulp veteran, Päivi Vihijärvi, says sustainability has been the mill’s top priority for decades. “Our raw material, wood pulp, is made from trees sourced from responsibly managed forests. The wood is always controlled and from non-controversial sources.” Their fully biodegradable fluff pulp is available as FSC® and PEFC™-certified. The mill also produces totally chlorine free (TCF) and unbleached fluff pulps.
Other key characteristic of UPM RaumaCell is high customer loyalty. “Most of our relationships go way back. We work closely together developing new products based on consumer trends. That’s what also separates us from traditional bulk industry; we are surprisingly close to the consumer in the value chain,” Päivi notes.