Norske Skog Saugbrugs AS is a pulp mill and paper mill located in Halden, Norway, which produces supercalender (SC) magazine paper. Located in the river Tista in Tistedalen, the mill produces 550,000 tonnes per year in three paper machines. Pulp is produced both from virgin fibers at an on-site thermomechanical pulp (TMP) mill. Part of Norske Skog, it is the sole remaining magazine mill in Norway.
Established as Saugbrugsforeningen in 1859, the company consolidated the sawmill operations along Tista, demolishing them and building a new sawmill. Pulp production was established in 1889. A major revamp from 1907 to 1910 saw the construction of Tistedalsfossen Power Station and pulp production based on the sulfite process. The company was involved in a wide range of wood processing industries, buying several smaller mills in the area.
The first two paper machines (PM1 and PM2) opened in 1914 and 1915. Viscose production was introduced along with PM3 in 1929. The mill underwent a gradual modernization through the 1950s, resulting in the opening of PM4 in 1963 and PM5 in 1968. From the mid 1970s through the early 1990s the mill cut most of its pollutants which had severely polluted Iddefjord and Tista. This coincided with a cut in most manufacturing not related to magazine paper. Norske Skog bought the mill in 1989 and opened PM6 in 1993. The mill's forests and three hydroelectric power stations were sold in 2001 and 2002.
History
Establishment and early years
Sawmill operation to exploit the fall in Tistedalsfossen has been conducted since the 16th century. In addition to the hydropower, the site was located at the mouth of Haldenvassdraget. Soon there were more than thirty sawmills and the site was incorporated as a town in 1665 and named Fredrikshald, later changed to Halden.
The system of privileges for sawmills was abandoned from 1 January 1860, at which time any citizen was free to establish and operate these. This caused eleven sawmill owners, with more than a combined thirty sawmills, to establish a joint operating company, Saugbrugsforeningen, in 1859. The company was capitalized through the issuing of shares worth 750,000 Norwegian speciedaler, and consisted of all the sawmills along Tistedalselva.
The company was in effect controlled and run by three families—Anker, Stang and Wiel—which were also heavily invested in the town's shipping. All directors in the company until 1909 were members of said families.
The goal of the new company was to rationalize the operation. All the former mills were demolished and a new facility was constructed. A major concern was the construction of the Kongsvinger Line, which would make it easier for forest owners in Aurskog, Nes and Vinger and to instead sell their lumber to Kristiania (Oslo). By cutting operating costs at the mills, the investors hoped to compensate for the reduced transport costs by railway. The new mill was situated on the south side of the river, on the lot Kjøbmandsdalen. At the time the new mill opened it had about 100 employees.
Mechanical saws were introduced in the early 1867, when the first steam-powered saw was installed. A carpenter shop opened in 1875, predominantly producing doors and windows. Through the 1870s the company ran with high margins and invested a substantial part of this in forest estates. The mill was expanded several times, and by 1883 it had eight production lines and 445 employees. This was in part due to major exports to Australia starting in the 1880s. The carpenter shop was destroyed in a fire in 1897 and never rebuilt.
Pulp, electricity and paper
The first pulp mill along Tistaelva was Søndre Skåningsfossen Træsliberi, established by Christian Anker in 1867. This operated profitably and was able to capitalize on much of the otherwise low-value refuse from the sawmills. Saugsbrugforeningen started considering the possibility of building its own pulp mill in 1872. Declining pulp prices from 1874 caused the company to shelve the plans for the meantime. The mechanical pulp mill opened in 1889 with five grinders and annual production of 11,000 tonnes, employing sixty people. The pulp mill was the company's until then largest investment, financed through a loan of 1.25 million Norwegian krone.