Lessebo’s Royal occasion

Located in the inland region of Småland of southern Sweden, close to Södra’s own production sites, Lessebo has a long tradition of making premium, climate-friendly papers, and a rich history. It was founded in 1658 when Erik Knutsson bought land with a plan to start producing different kinds of iron. Paper was introduced over the years and by 1693 paper had taken over as the main product. In 1719 Lessebo was granted permission by the Swedish Board of Trade to produce paper (the letter has survived three centuries and is still in the mill’s archives). 

Today the privately-owned company has a capacity of 45,000 tpy of premium printing and writing papers, but it has recently launched a new range of packaging papers designed to offer environmentally-friendly alternatives to plastics.  

Södra has been the company’s main pulp supplier for decades. CEO Eric Sigurdsson explains that the mill previously had an integrated pulp mill (from 1902). “However, over the years, as the quality of our products increased, we found our own pulp was no longer meeting our needs and so began our relationship with Södra, including using their technicians to help us get the best from our own production.” 

Maria Staxhammar, Södra’s Sales Director in Sweden: “Congratulations to Lessebo on this milestone in their history. We look forward to helping them grow their business for the next phase of their journey!”