(Bloomberg) -- Finnish company Metsä Tissue is building a new paper mill in the Humber estuary of northeast England, in an investment worth hundreds of millions of pounds that will create 400 jobs. 

Metsä Tissue said it wants to slash Britain’s reliance on imported paper, which currently accounts for 45% of tissue used in the UK and Ireland. During the Covid pandemic, British supermarkets rationed toilet paper to prevent shelves from emptying amid a rush of demand.

The investment, which people familiar with the matter said could be considerably more than £500 million ($620 million), will be made over the next decade in Goole, Yorkshire.

In the UK, Metsä Tissue’s main brand is Katrin, a paper towel and toilet roll brand used by corporate and professional clients. 

“There has been long-term vision for us to come to the UK to manufacture these products for local consumers,” said Esa Kaikkonen, chief executive officer of Metsä Tissue. “Goole is the perfect location, because from our perspective, it’s a gateway to the UK market.” 

The plant sits within the proposed Humber Freeport, a designated zone which can allow goods to enter the UK tariff-free in certain areas if they will be exported again. Metsä Tissue said thousands more jobs will be created in the supply chain as a result of the investment. 

“This investment is a huge vote of confidence in Goole, Yorkshire and Humberside,” said Dominic Johnson, the Conservative government’s minister for investment.

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