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SCA's history dates back to a number of 17th century companies. The productivity was revolutionized in the early 1700s when water-driven saws were introduced.




	SCA was incorporated in 1929 as a holding company for some ten forest industry companies producing sawn goods and paper pulp in northern Sweden.

	We went from the forest to the mill In the 1930s, the main efforts of SCA were concentrated on adjusting sawmill capacity to economies of scale and available resources of timber, resulting in the closure of a number of mills. In the postwar period, the structure of the pulp industry was also reorganized for similar reasons. Thus, all the sulphite mills and two of the four sulphate mills were closed down.

	We moved into newsprint and kraftliner Market pulp was the completely dominant product in SCA's forest industry operations until the late 1950s when the integration with paper began with the construction of two mills, one for newsprint and one for kraftliner. Until then, paper was being produced only at one paper mill. These capital investments marked the beginning of SCA's large-scale integration of refined products with greater added value.

	We advanced our positions in Europe In the 1960s, liner production was integrated with corrugated board, as SCA acquired and constructed mills in southern Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain and Germany. During the 1970s, SCA expanded its interests in the corrugated board industry by acquiring part-ownership of companies in West Germany, Great Britain and Ireland. SCA also increased its production of kraftliner through the jointly owned Obbola Linerboard AB.

	We moved into hygiene products and packaging In 1975 the Group expanded with the acquisition of Molnlycke AB. Molnlycke, originally a textile company, has emerged as one of the leading western European producers of disposable hygiene products using pulp and paper as the main raw materials. Through its merger with the SCA group, Molnlycke gained access to considerable resources to finance further growth.

	We strengthened our positions In 1990 SCA acquired Reedpack, which gave the Group a strong position as the leading European company in transport packaging. SCA also gained access to technology for newsprint based on recycled fiber and became Europe's second largest waste-paper collector and user. In 1992, the energy operations, Bakab Energi AB was divested. In 1995, SCA acquired a 75% stake in PWA, the German paper and packaging company. When SCA's offer to acquire remaining PWA shares expired in December 1997, the SCA holding corresponded to 94% of the capital in PWA.

	1996: SCA and the American company Kimberly-Clark announced a European structural deal - SCA acquired Prudhoe tissue mill in Great Britain and Kimberly-Clark took over SCA Molnlycke's Peaudouce brand name for baby diapers in France. A second LWC machine was taken into operation in the Ortviken paper mill, Sweden. We expand further In 1997 and 1998, the expansion in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and America continued through joint ventures and acquisitions of a great number of hygiene and packaging companies. In 1999, SCA received the FSC certificate that demonstrates that the company's two million hectares of forestland are managed according to the principles and criteria established by Forest Stewardship Council. FSC demands forest management with great consideration for nature conservation, the Sami population and local communities. In 2000, SCA acquired the incontinence products operations of Johnson & Johnson in the US and Canada. The acquisition of Metsa-Serla's corrugated board division made SCA the largest corrugated board producer in Europe. In connection with the Annual General Meeting 2002, Sverker Martin-Lof was elected Chairman of the Board for SCA after having worked as President and CEO since 1988. SCA's current President and CEO, Jan Astrom, was appointed in April 2002. Globalization The acquisitions in 2001 of part of Georgia-Pacific's Away-From-Home operations and the packaging company Tuscarora signalled a breakthrough for SCA on the American market. These acquisitions gave SCA the necessary critical mass and a platform for futher expansion in North America. The tissue market has been expanded in Latin America through acquisitions and investments in joint-venture companies. SCA increased its holdings to majority in the Singapore-based Central Package Group, which strenghtened SCA's position in the Chinese market. In 2004, tissue operations of the New Zealand company Carter Holt Harvey were acquired, making SCA market leader in tissue in Oceania.


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