Today, June 13, 2016, SunPine officially inaugurates production of SunPine rosin. This marks the end of a project that has taken more than two years. SunPine has invested 200 million SEK in upgrades at its refinery in Piteå, giving it the capacity to produce 24,000 tons of rosin per year. The investment was made public in 2014 when the international chemical companies of Lawter and SunPine signed a contract making the production of rosin possible. In conjunction with the contract, it was also announced that Lawter would be a part owner in SunPine.
“We’re very happy that the new facility is up and running. After a six-month start-up phase, the plant is everything we expected. We are now able to deliver high-quality rosin to our customers and to our co-owner Lawter. Today, we can say with pride that our facility in Haraholmen, just outside Piteå, is a full-scale biorefinery. In addition, the investment has resulted in 15 new jobs,” says Magnus Edin, CEO SunPine.
“For Lawter, a dependable supplier of rosin in liquid form is crucial for our business in Europe. With this project completion, we secure the supply of large volumes of such a vital resource. This plays an important role to our company, which prides itself on utilizing renewable resources” comments Lawter’s president and CEO Ichiro Taninaka.
SunPine in Piteå is a world leader in the manufacturing of second-generation biofuels. The company is an excellent example of how Sweden can develop new green technology and create new green jobs. SunPine has a yearly production capacity of 100,000 m3 of tall diesel and during 2016 will pass a production mark of 500,000 m3 since production began. Overall, SunPine has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in Sweden by almost 1.5 million tons and continues to make important contributions to Sweden’s goal of fielding a fossil-fuel free fleet of vehicles by 2030.
Today, SunPine has four products:
- Crude tall oil used as an additive in green diesel
- Rosin an additive for the production of i.e. printing colors and glue
- Turpentine used in the perfume industry among other things
- Bio oil (tall oil pitch) used as an energy resource in the paper industry
“Our raw material – tall oil- is a by-product of the Swedish forest industry and Sweden’s sustainable forestry efforts. The Nordic forest industry investment plays a critical role in a mass production of raw materials, that supports the growing need of the industries we serve” summarizes SunPine’s, CEO Magnus Edin.
For additional information, please contact: Magnus Edin, CEO SunPine AB, +46 70 320 24 69 magnus.edin@sunpine.se
Gustav Tibblin, chairman of the board, SunPine AB, +46 70 573 49 85
Facts
- Capacity 180,000 mt crude tall oil
- Tall diesel 100,000 m³ (corresponding to 100,000,000 L)
- Bio oil 50,000 mt
- Turpentine 2000 mt
- Rosin 24,000 mt
- Number of jobs appr. 100 – 46 employees and 56 employees at suppliers and partners
- Turnover appr. 1 billion SEK
Owners
- Kiram
- Lawter
- Preem
- Sveaskog
- Södra