Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, Finland, initially announced this past August 4 that it was planning to close down the wallpaper base machine (PM 3) at its Kyro mill in Hämeenkyrö, Finland, and to discontinue its loss-making wallpaper base production. In 2015, sales from Kyro’s paper business totaled EUR 50 million, and the operating result was EUR -5 million.

The statutory labor negotiations, which affected all of the 250 people working at the mill, have now been completed. As a result, the Kyro mill wallpaper base machine PM 3 will be closed down and the number of personnel at the mill will decrease by 94 people.

Metsä Board’s third quarter result is estimated to include non-recurring net costs of around EUR 9 million related to the closure. The closure is estimated to have a positive cash impact of around EUR 10 million, the majority of which consists of working capital released during the fourth quarter.

The folding boxboard machine, with an annual capacity of 190,000 metric tons, will remain at the Kyro mill, producing premium packaging board for beauty and healthcare products and graphics end uses, among other things. In addition, Hämeenkyrön Voima’s biopower plant producing heat and electricity is located in the mill area.

Metsä Board is a producer of folding boxboards and white linerboards made from fresh fibers. Its lightweight paperboards are developed as a "perfect fit" for consumer goods, retail-ready, and food service packaging. The fresh fibers Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in northern forests. In 2015, the company’s sales totaled EUR 2.0 billion, and it has approximately 2,600 employees.