"We're forced to shut down parts of our newsprint production," said Henrik Sjölund, head of Holmen Paper. "Falling demand, pressure on prices, excessively high costs of raw materials, and last but not least, the strong Swedish krona, makes this measure inevitable. It's extremely regrettable that it has to affect so many of our employees."
The restructuring process is a further step in the strategy of concentrating Holmen Paper's Swedish operations on specialty paper, Holmen notes.
"This spring, we'll be introducing book paper from Braviken while further refining the specialty products that are already being produced today," Sjölund adds. "The measures are part of our change strategy in which we're developing unique specialty paper that makes the production processes of our customers more cost efficient."
Following the restructuring program, Braviken Paper Mill is estimated to have 360 employees and two paper machines with an annual capacity of just under 600 000 metric tons of printing paper. When the changes currently underway at Holmen Paper have been completed, it is estimated that the Swedish units will be able to produce 1,150,000 metric tpy of printing paper, of which 75% will be specialty paper, a portion that is expected to grow further. Production is 90% based on virgin fiber. At the mill in Madrid, slightly more than 300,000 metric tons of newsprint is produced, based on recovered paper and recovered water. The combined workforce in the business area is approximately 1,000 employees.
Operating profit for the first quarter is expected to be affected by an impairment loss on non-current assets (SEK 100 million) and a provision for restructuring costs (SEK 40 million).
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