Swedish forestry company Svenska Cellulosa AB has hired Katarina Nilsson, currently an executive at one of the largest aluminum companies in the world, as general counsel.

Nilsson succeeds SCA top lawyer and senior vice president Jan Svedjebrant, who is retiring after nearly two decades with the company. Nilsson begins her new job at SCA on Jan. 1, according to an announcement from the company Friday. 

Founded in 1929 and headquartered in Sundsvall, Sweden, SCA is Europe's largest private forest holding. The company offers packaging and print, pulp, wood products, renewable energy and services for forest owners. It had more than $2 billion in sales in 2018. 

Nilsson wrote in an email that she was “extremely happy about the opportunity to join SCA, a flagship enterprise in Swedish industry with a strong sustainability agenda.”

She currently serves as the senior vice president of health, safety and environment for Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company Norsk Hydro ASA. She joined Norsk in 2017 after the company acquired Sapa, where Nilsson had filled several roles, including vice president of legal for Asia and executive vice president, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Earlier in her career, Nilsson served as chair of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in China and as a partner at Advokatfirman Vinge KB, one of the largest law firms in Scandinavia. She is a graduate of Lund University in Sweden and the SOAS University of London, where she majored in Chinese studies and Mandarin.