UPM provides update on Leuna RFFs project

Helsinki –  UPM-Kymmene Corp.,has provided an update on the progress of its project to establish a €1.2-billion biorefinery, with capacity to produce 220ktpa of bio-based products, in Leuna, Germany.

Originally scheduled for start-up in late 2022, the project led by UPM Biochemicals has been delayed by a range of issues, not least among them the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

“Having initiated commissioning and start-up of the Leuna Biorefinery in late 2024, quality assurance checks identified certain corrective works required in the sugars-to-chemicals process, the Finnish group reported in February.

These works “will take a few months” said UPM-Kymmene. Meanwhile, it added, “sequential start-up in the other units continues, [with] integrated commercial production of the site expected to start in H2 2025.”

Output from the Saxony-Anhalt site will include lignin-based renewable functional fillers (RFFs) – alternatives to carbon black and other rubber fillers for tires, automotive profiles, hoses, seals, footwear, flooring and other products.

“Commercial interest in our products and side streams has been confirmed with customer agreements,” said Massimo Reynaudo, president and CEO of UPM-Kymmene.

"We are managing a sales and product qualification pipeline that is multiple times the annual capacity," Reynaudo also stated.

In a follow-up statement, a UPM spokesman detailed a range of recent developments at UPM Biochemicals, including it gaining FSC, PEFC, ISCC+ certifications and passing an ISO 9001 pre-audit.

“We are in contact with top global tire manufacturers around the world to approve RFF [and] are getting positive feedback from the market, the company representative continued.

UPM, he added, had also recently visited South Korea to attend the KOPLAS 2025 plastics & rubber expo and meet a number of tier 1, tier 2 automotive suppliers, and tire manufacturers.