Stora Enso Planning to Close Corbehem Mill in France this June?

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According to a report by EUWID Pulp and Paper (Germany) this week, French union Force Ouvrière (FO) said that Stora Enso is planning to close its Corbehem mill in northern France in June. A spokesman for FO said the paper manufacturer had announced this move in a meeting with employee representatives on January 6. Stora Enso, EUWID notes, said that no decision had been made on the future of the mill and added it had only announced that an information and consultation process for the 350 employees was being started. According to FO, this will begin on January 21.

The union spokesman said that there had recently been a potential buyer for the facility, but the takeover could not be realized due to financial reasons, EUWID reported, adding that Stora Enso also confirmed that a creditworthy candidate to take over the mill had not been found yet, but noted the search was continuing. The company had announced its intention to sell the site back in October 2012.

Production in Corbehem reportedly is set to continue until June, the union said, adding that the order situation was currently weak.

The paper machine (PM 5) at Corbehem is currently idled, reportedly due to a technical problem that occurred on January 5. In the EUWID report, neither the union nor the company could say when the problem would be resolved or when production could resume. According to the union spokesman, Stora Enso produced around 218,000 metric tons of LWC paper in Corbehem last year. PM 5 has a production capacity of 330,000 metric tpy.

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