Norske Skog Downtime to Remove 10% Newsprint, Magazine Capacity from European Markets

Norske Skog, OIslo, Norway, is planning to take downtime equal to approximately 10% of its newsprint and magazine paper capacity in Europe during the third quarter to support the current price situation in the region, RISI, Brussels, Belgium, reports. Norske Skog president and CEO Sven Ombudstvedt noted that "we have experienced declining volumes, especially as a result of the macro-economic insecurity in Europe. With fading margin opportunities on exports out of Europe, we think it is time to take more active downtime than normal during summer."

After the permanent closure of its Follum mill in Norway at the end of March, the company has had an operating rate of around 90%. This will decline to around 80% in the third quarter as a result of the downtime. The capacity curtailment will cover both newsprint and mechanical paper, but will focus more on newsprint and coated mechanical paper, where the firm sees a "relatively weak" demand situation, and less on supercalendered paper, where the situation remains "okay," Ombudstvedt explained in the RISI report.

The temporary curtailments will be carried out in the third quarter, starting July 1, but the duration of the process will depend on how the demand situation develops, In Europe, Norske Skog has a capacity of some 1.3 million metric tpy of newsprint and some 1.5 million metric tpy of mechanical paper, almost evenly split between coated and uncoated mechanical paper, according to RISI.

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