UPM will permanently close down the paper machine 3 at UPM Rauma mill in Finland and  the paper machine 4 at Ettringen mill in Germany by the end of the April 2013. The number of employees is reduced by 87 in UPM Rauma mill and by 150 in UPM Ettringen mill.

The employee negotiations concerning the closing plans were concluded in March. UPM has also concluded the employee negotitations with the employee representatives concerning streamlining the Paper Business Group and global functions in Finland.  Employee negotiations in global functions continue in several countries following local schedules and processes. The selling processes of UPM Docelles paper mill and UPM Aigrefeuille further prosessing mill in France continue.

In the Finnish employee negotiations the argumentation of personnel reductions, schedule and change support for the redundants were discussed.

“The employee reductions are inevitable under the circumstances. UPM will support former employees through re-employment and retraining in many ways,“ says Jyrki Ovaska, President of the UPM Paper Business Group.

Employee reductions are a result of UPM’s need to permanently reduce paper capacity in Europe  by a further 580,000 tonnes. Current business environment also makes evident the need for streamlining of the Paper Business Group and UPM’s global functions to remain cost competitive in the new business scale. UPM announced its plans on January 17, 2013.

The continuing challenges in European economy have significantly impacted the consumption of  paper, exacerbating the effect of structural changes in paper end-uses and resulting in further decline in the demand of graphic papers in Europe. High costs and significant overcapacity continue to challenge the industry operators in Europe.