UPM announces Albbruck paper mill closure

The mill's sheeting lines will be transferred to the company’s paper mill in Plattling, a transfer that will create 30 new positions at the site.

UPM had been looking for an investor for the site, which ultimately proved unsuccessful, before opting to close the premises.

According to Jyrki Ovaska, president of UPM’s paper business group, the mill had been loss-making for several years and was "not cost competitive".

Ovaska added: "Under the difficult circumstances the highly qualified employees have done an excellent job.

"Unfortunately, it would not have been possible to improve the mill’s profitability to an extent that would have allowed sustainable operations."

The closure forms part of the company's consolidation plans following the acquisition of rival manufacturer Myllykoski in July last year.

The consolidation of the two businesses includes plant closures and the integration of overlapping supply services that will cost around €200m (£176m) and result in 1,170 redundancies.

In addition to the transfer of sheeting lines at Albbruck, the company's plans include: the closure of mills in Kouvola, Finland and Abbruck, Germany; the closure of paper machine three at Ettringen, Germany; and the sale or other exit of the UPM Stracel paper mill from UPM Paper Business Group.

Hartmut Wurster, executive vice president of technology at UPM added: "Despite this strong commitment of people involved, no solution could be found as the concepts presented by potential investors were not economically sound.

"UPM will implement a social plan in order to alleviate the effects caused by personnel reductions in a responsible way."






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