Paper Manufacturer Stora Enso Forced to Close Plants in Finland

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Paper, packaging and forest company Stora Enso Oyj (OTC:SEOAY) (Helsinki, Finland), is planning to shut down some of the company's facilities in Finland, affecting between 450 and 1,100 jobs. Production capacities are also expected to be reduced before the end of 2010.

According to company officials, the current economic crisis has led to a decrease on the demand of paper and packaging products, resulting in a collapse in prices. The Tolkinen Saw Mill is the first plant to be closed permanently by the end of 2009. Stora Enso also announced the divestment of the Kotka Mill and the closing of a paper machine at the Imatra Mill in the first quarter of 2010. During the second and fourth quarter, Sunila Pulp Mill and Varkaus Paper Mill are also planned to be respectively shut down.

The company will work with local employment and economic development centres to find new job opportunities for workers who are made redundant. The company plans to support them financially if they would like to start their own businesses.

The Tolkinen facility produces sawn timber made from spruce and pine and has an annual production capacity of 260,000 cubic meters. At present, approximately 70 people work at the plant. The Kotka Mill, located on the south coast of Finland, 130 kilometers east of Helsinki, manufactures sawn and processed wood products, magazine papers, saturating base kraft papers, and impregnated papers, using wood and pulp as raw material. The mill produces 250,000 cubic meters of sawn wood; 175,000 tons of laminating paper; and 185,000 tons of machine-finished coated paper per year. The facility has 650 employees. Kotka is also self-sufficient both in terms of electricity and heat.

Another facility owned by Stora Enso is the Imatra Paper Mill, 250 kilometers east of Helsinki. The plant produces liquid, food packaging boards, graphical boards, packaging office papers, and absorbex papers. It has an annual manufacturing capacity of 210,000 tons of paper and employs 140 workers. The pulp mill located in Sunila produces 375,000 tons of softwood pulp per year and provides jobs to 250 people. The Varkaus facility manufactures 210,000 tons of uncoated paper using eco pulp and timber as raw materials. Approximately 130 employees work at the plant.

Stora Enso has more than 85 facilities in 35 countries and 29,000 employees worldwide. At present, the company's total paper and board annual capacity is 12.7 million tons and 6.9 million cubic meters of sawn wood products.

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