Metsä Group will install a Valmet 3D Fiber moulded-fibre line at its Äänekoski site to scale Muoto fibre packaging from demo to industrial volumes, with start-up planned for 2028 and nominal output above 100 million items a year.
The new line is designed to produce Muoto fibre-based trays, plates and food containers and is expected to exceed 100 million items per year.
Metsä Group has committed to expanding production capacity (reported related investment ~€25m) to move the process toward large-scale industrial use.
Valmet will supply a 3D Fiber moulded-fibre production line to Metsä Group for installation at the Äänekoski mill in Finland. The line builds on co-development and pilot work carried out at the Muoto demo plant on the same site. Metsä expects the new line to start operating in 2028 and to have a nominal output exceeding 100 million items per year.
Development path and commercial validation
Valmet and Metsä Group ran development work and pilot runs at the Äänekoski demo plant that started operation jointly in 2022. Those pilots led to the commercial introduction of the 3D Fiber process in June 2026 and the order that Valmet recorded in its third-quarter 2026 intake.
The production line will be installed next to the demo plant at Äänekoski. Metsä has said the planned line will have a nominal capacity of more than 100 million units a year. In related reporting, Metsä Group planned a Muoto line investment of around €25 million and chose Äänekoski over an earlier proposed Rauma location because of existing infrastructure, the demo line, and overall investment costs.
Metsä Spring Muoto project vice-president Antti Valtonen framed the move as an expansion of capabilities and customer collaboration to support future growth: "After years of fruitful co-development with Valmet, including the start-up of the joint demo plant in 2022, Muoto is now entering an exciting new phase."
Valmet 3D Fibre head Juho Pyrrö positioned the technology as the first large-scale moulded-fibre production technology on the market and said the investment confirms market potential and accelerates replacement of plastic packaging in high-volume production.
The line is intended to show that the Muoto/3D Fiber process can scale to industrial production. If it achieves the expected output and quality, it could make cellulose-based, moulded packaging a viable high-volume alternative to plastics for trays, plates and similar food-service items.
Installation and commissioning are planned at the Äänekoski site with operations targeted to begin in 2028. The project is explicitly presented as a platform for expanding commercial customer collaborations and informing possible future investments to increase capacity.
Implications for buyers and packagers
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