Kaunis Iron has depleted its stocks

Pajala Almost all the ore that the mining company Kaunis Iron stored in Pitkäjärvi during the stop on the ore line Malmbanan has now been emptied.

This means that Kaunis Iron is back to normal stock levels. The extensive train stoppages on Malmbanan after the derailments last winter forced the company to quickly build up a large storage in Pitkäjärvi.

"Having to build the storage and stockpile iron ore in Pitkäjärvi has cost us around SEK 300-400 million and resulted in a sharp decline in cash flow,” says Nils-Johan Haraldsson, Logistics Manager at Kaunis Iron.

To store large quantities while keeping production going, the company increased its transportation capacity and at times ran three trains, instead of two, per day from Pitkäjärvi to the port of Narvik in Norway.

Now, stock levels have returned to normal.

"Thanks to close cooperation between our employees and contractors such as Railcare, BDX and Kiruna Wagon, the storage in Pitkäjärvi is empty, and the storage in Kaunisvaara has also been phased out. It feels like we have reached our goal and can continue to work forward," says Johan Lindmark, site manager in Pitkäjärvi.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com