Stora Enso announced that it planned to permanently shut down paper machine 1 (PM 1) at Veitsiluoto Mill in Finland, due to structural weakening of magazine paper demand in Europe. Co-determination negotiations with employees at the mill have now concluded and PM 1 will be permanently shut down by the end of April 2014. The shutdown will affect 88 employees.
PM 1 has an annual capacity of 190 000 tonnes of coated magazine paper. The shutdown will decrease Stora Enso’s coated mechanical paper capacity by about 15%, which represents about 2% of total European coated mechanical paper capacity. Stora Enso will be able to serve its NovaPress customers from Veitsiluoto Mill PM 5 and from Kabel Mill in Germany.
Stora Enso will make every effort in co-operation with the local community to help the affected personnel find new employment opportunities, and all job openings in other Stora Enso units will be available to those affected.