The Finnish paper manufacturer UPM has announced that it will close its Myllykoski paper mill in Kouvola by the end of this year. In addition it is cutting back on jobs at its Pietarsaari mill and in its plywood operations.
The company estimates that the moves will lead to the reduction of about 645 jobs in Finland.
The cutbacks in paper production are part of the company’s plan to reduce output at UPM’s facilities in Finland and Germany. The aim is to achieve greater efficiency, and to raise the price of paper as output declines.
Personnel cutbacks in Finland and Germany are to affect a total of 1170 employees. UPM is also selling off its paper mill in Stracel near Strasbourg in Eastern France, which employs 260 people.
The Myllykoski mill currently employs 375 people. Cutbacks in plywood production are expected to lead to the elimination of 125 jobs in Finland, and the estimated personnel reduction in Pietarsaari is 60.
UPM only recently bought the Myllykoski paper mill from the Myllykoski family company in a deal that was signed in December last year.
After its acquisition, UPM made an evaluation of where the company’s end customers are, and how profitable each mill is to use. The results of the survey were bad news for Myllykoski.
“The profitability of UPM’s paper business is clearly falling below the sustainable level that is required of business in the long term”, explains UPM’s CEO Jussi Pesonen.
In Germany UPM also plans to permanently shut down a mill in Abbruck, as well as one paper machine at its Ettringen mill.
