DB Cargo and ScandFibre Logistics (SFL) have increased their transport contract, enabling the movement of 1.2 million tonnes of paper from Sweden to continental and south-eastern Europe. The agreement, extended to 2019, will also see around 12,000 wagon loads sent to Sweden, destined for customers in the consumer goods industry.

Paper producer

SFL provides transport and logistics solutions for the Swedish paper industry. The main shareholder is the Swedish paper producer BillerudKorsnäs, and they will work closely with DB Cargo, the largest European freight transport company, and one of the most important service providers in the SFL’s ‘Rail17’ transport network, with a total transport volume of 1.9 million tonnes.

Rail17 is an integrated transport system for large volume shipments in Sweden and Europe. The system is primarily based on large volumes of paper products from Sweden. An advanced IT system, called SFLow, is continuously monitoring the transports. In order to optimise the system, it is also utilised for return freight from continental Europe back to Sweden.

Reliable partner

Dr Jürgen Wilder, outgoing CEO of DB Cargo, said:  “We are delighted to be a reliable partner for SFL in the future. With our flexible European single-car network, we were able to convince SFL and its owners.”

The Bavarian railway station Landshut has a special significance in the transport network, as it is the hub for an annual 5,000 freight cars loaded with paper, arriving daily from various Swedish freight trains. In Landshut they are collected, buffered, sorted and grouped. They then travel by block train six times a week to Italy.

Mats Erkén, CEO of SFL, said; “With DB Cargo, we have entrusted one of the most powerful providers of European rail transport services to handle our continental paper streams and the reloads south of Malmö. DB Cargo has the necessary network in Europe and the experience of operating and developing high-quality single-car networks.”