Kemi Shipping orders eight Konecranes E-VER electric forklifts

Kemi Shipping Oy, owned by Finnish Metsä Group, has ordered eight Konecranes E-VER fully electric forklifts including full service contracts for their operations in the Port of Kemi. Having been impressed with the E-VER that was delivered early in 2022, the Finnish logistics company is strengthening operations with an additional order, which will be delivered in the first half of 2023.

Kemi Shipping provides a range of harbour services for customers in the region. With Metsä opening a new mill for bioproducts in the north, Kemi Shipping is taking the step to invest in new lift trucks for their new warehouse operations. The port facility is big and will benefit from the eight Konecranes E-VER electric forklifts that will serve the mill with their product handling as it reaches full production capacity.

“Sustainability is at the core of our business, so the first thing that attracted us to the Konecranes E-VER was the fact that it is fully electric,” says Kari Lundell, CEO of Kemi Shipping. “We had one Konecranes E-VER delivered earlier this year for paper board handling, and we could see its advantages immediately. Besides eliminating tailpipe emissions, it offers outstanding efficiency, and our drivers love it. Once all eight E-VER electric forklifts are on-site, they will mark another big step on our journey to greater productivity and lower emissions.”

“Kemi Shipping has been a loyal Konecranes customer for over two decades, sharing our mutual commitment to the environment” says Klaus Kaukovalta, product manager of Lift Trucks for Konecranes Finland. “The Konecranes E-VER, that won the sawmill industry Product Novelty Competition for improving environmental performance, gives us the perfect opportunity to provide Kemi Shipping with equipment that meets their specific requirements in a demanding industry.”

The eight additional lift trucks are Konecranes E-VER 16-1200C forklifts, with a fully-electric driveline and a capacity of 16t. lithium-ion batteries manufactured with clean energy power each truck, taking just 45 minutes to fully recharge and re-generating brake energy back to its battery. With less heat, oil and fewer moving parts, the electric forklift requires less maintenance, and produces less chemical waste. The trucks will be supplied with special bale clamps to securely handle wood pulp.

These Konecranes E-VER electric forklifts are also Smart Connected Lift Trucks, in which TruConnect Remote Monitoring follows each truck’s performance and maximises battery life through analytics such as charge optimisation and energy consumption.