The machine has not been in operation since a fire stopped production at the mill on 20 November.

Pulp production started running again on Friday evening (26 February) and the paper machine started producing paper on Sunday night.

Holmen Paper said it can now start scheduling customer production for fresh fibre-based magazine paper Holmen XLNT Elite, XLNT Classic and Holmen View on PM 11.

Deliveries to customers will start again in April, after final paper qualifications and test prints.

The fire took place in the mill area of the pulp factory in the north of the factory site. There were no injuries or stock damages and the two paper machines at the mill were not affected. However, other manufacturing and electricity equipment was damaged.

An investigation into the cause of the incident showed that the fire arose next to a rotating axle, the heat from which caused smouldering that rapidly spread. Book paper machine PM 12 was restarted in December.

The firm had previously estimated that the machine, which has an annual capacity of 330,000 tonnes, would be out of action until mid-March.

“The clean-up and repair has been going well - we are producing paper again, and earlier than expected, thanks to our dedicated team that have been working 24/7 ever since the fire started,” said Hallsta mill manager Daniel Peltonen.

Pulp production is currently running at around 75%. Full production capacity will be resumed once the fourth and final refiner line is restarted at the end of March.

“The rebuild of our TMP plant has not been an easy task. But following hard work, Hallsta is now an even better paper mill,” said Peltonen.

Holmen manufactures paperboard, printing paper and sawn timber and runs forestry and energy production operations. The group has around 3,400 staff and in 2014 its net sales were SEK16bn (£1.33bn).