Holmen AB is a Swedish company which bases its business in the
forest industry
The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry – when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and wood products (e.g. fu ...
and the
pulp and paper industry
The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products.
Manufacturing process
In the manufacturing process, pulp is intr ...
. Holmen's main products are
paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper-based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker (usually over 0.30 mm, 0.012 in, or 12 Inch#Equivalents, points) than paper and has certain superior ...
for consumer packaging and graphical applications.
Printing paper for
magazine
A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
s,
supplements,
direct mail
Advertising mail, also known as direct mail (by its senders), junk mail (by its recipients), mailshot or admail (North America), letterbox drop or letterboxing (Australia), is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. Th ...
,
directories,
book
A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
s and
newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...
s. Holmen also produce
sawn timber for flooring, window components, furniture or construction.
History
Holmen was originally called ''Mo och Domsjö AB'' (MoDo), a Swedish company created in 1874.
Carl Kempe (1799-1872), a
Pomerania
Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...
n-born merchant, originally partnered with his brother-in-law, but was from 1836 single owner of a
sawmill
A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
in ''Mo'', at the river
Moälven, near
Örnsköldsvik
Örnsköldsvik (; ), often shortened to just Ö-vik, is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017.
Its natural harbour and archipelago is in th ...
in northern Sweden. Carl Kempe later established a steam-powered sawmill at
Domsjö on Moälven. The latter has been running as an independent company called
Domsjö Fabriker since 2000, and in 2011 it was acquired by India's
Aditya Birla Group
Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. The group's business interests include metals, cement, fashion and retail, financial services, renewables, fibre, textiles, chemicals, real estate, trading, ...
.
The company ''Mo och Domsjö AB'' was created in 1874 by Carl Kempe's sons from these holdings, among several other industries controlled by the Kempe family. It was led at various times by the brothers Bernhard (1830-1908), Wilhelm and Frans Kempe (1847-1924) and remained in the control of the Kempe family for most of the next century.
Originally producing and exporting timber, the company moved into
pulp and paper
The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products.
Manufacturing process
In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...
at the end of the 19th and early years of the 20th century and into wood-based chemicals during the middle part of the 20th century. The name was usually abbreviated to Modo and has since 1963 through sponsoring given its name to the ice hockey team
Modo Hockey
Modo Hockey (or MoDo with uppercase letters) is a professional ice hockey club in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The team currently plays in Sweden's second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan after losing to HV71 after the play out following the 2024/25 se ...
.
The company was merged with the
Norrköping
Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...
-based industrial company
Holmens Bruk AB in 1988 under the name Mo och Domsjö AB.
In February 2000, the group changed its name to Holmen AB.
In June 2016 the newsprint mill in Madrid, Spain, was sold to
International Paper
The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 39,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.
History
The company was incorporated January 31 ...
.
Organisation
Holmen consists of several
subsidiaries
A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...
:
Holmen Paper,
Iggesund Paperboard,
Iggesund Timber,
Holmen Skog and
Holmen Energi. The largest one is
Holmen Paper with a total of two
paper mills
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...
in Sweden; Hallsta and
Braviken.
Iggesund Paperboard has two paperboard mills; one in
Iggesund, Sweden and one in
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
, England,
Sustainability
In January 2017 Holmen was ranked number 21 on the
Global 100.
Owners
The largest owner in Holmen is
L E Lundbergföretagen, controlled by
billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least 1,000,000,000, one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultr ...
Fredrik Lundberg with 32.9% of the
shares
In financial markets, a share (sometimes referred to as stock or equity) is a unit of equity ownership in the capital stock of a corporation. It can refer to units of mutual funds, limited partnerships, and real estate investment trusts. Sha ...
and 61.6% of the total vote.
Markets
The European market makes up about 88% of Holmen's total net sales. Holmen's single largest market is Sweden, with 24% of the net sales.
Products
The business area Iggesund Paperboard produces paperboard for use in the premium packaging and graphics sectors. The brands consist of Invercote and Inverform produced at the Iggesund Mill and Incada produced at the Workington Mill.
The business area Holmen Paper produces paper for magazines, catalogues, direct mail, supplements, book paper and gift wrap at the two paper mills. The brands include: Holmen TRND, Holmen VIEW, Holmen UNIQ, Holmen NEWS, Holmen GIFT, Holmen XLNT, Holmen PLUS and Holmen BOOK.
The business area Holmen Timber makes construction timber and joinery timber at three sawmills in Sweden.
References
External links
Holmen official site
{{Authority control
Manufacturing companies based in Stockholm
Pulp and paper companies of Sweden
Companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm
Manufacturing companies established in 1875
Forest products companies
Swedish companies established in 1875
19th-century establishments in Västernorrland County