UPM to Permanently Shutdown PM 3 at Rauma, PM 4 at Ettringen
 Print this article | Send to Colleague
UPM-Kymmene Corp., Finland, this week announced that it will permanently close down PM 3 at its Rauma mill in Finland and PM 4 at its Ettringen mill in Germany by the end of this month. The number of employees is being reduced by 87 at Rauma and by 150 at the Ettringen mill.
Employee negotiations concerning the closing plans were concluded in March. UPM said it also has concluded negotiations with employee representatives concerning streamlining the Paper Business Group and global functions in Finland. Employee negotiations in global functions continue in several countries following local schedules and processes. Efforts to sell the UPM Docelles paper mill and the UPM Aigrefeuille further-processing mill in France continue.
"The employee reductions are inevitable under the circumstances. UPM will support former employees through re-employment and retraining in many ways," Jyrki Ovaska, president of the UPM Paper Business Group, noted.
Employee reductions are a result of UPM's need to permanently reduce paper capacity in Europe by a further 580,000 metric tons, the company explained. The current business environment, it added, also emphasizes the need for streamlining UPM's Paper Business Group and its global functions to remain cost competitive in the new business scale. UPM announced its plans this past January 17.
UPM pointed out that "the continuing challenges in European economy have significantly impacted the consumption of paper, exacerbating the effect of structural changes in paper end-uses and resulting in further decline in the demand of graphic papers in Europe. High costs and significant overcapacity continue to challenge the industry operators in Europe."
|
