Anjalankoski paper mill to be shuttered

The statutory talks with employee representatives are scheduled to begin next week and last at least six weeks.

Anjalankoski's site uses two paper machines to produce coated and uncoated book papers, coated magazine paper, and improved newsprint. However, Stora Enso has proposed a plan to concentrate all book production to one line due to low demand for paper and the high cost of production inputs.

The removal of one of the two machines is said to affect about 110 employees and dent the annual revenue of the site by around 100 million euros. While the closure is presently planned for the fourth quarter of this year, no final decisions on the closure or staff cuts will be made until the negotiations have been concluded.

Hannu Kasurinen, the head of packaging materials manager at Stora Enso, said in a press release that the decline in demand for newsprint and publishing paper has accelerated further in the past six months, also reaching the previously more stable book paper market.

I am certain that decline in demand is ultimately the result of digitalisation. Although the paper industry is still bleak, the packaging board market is continuing to grow.

The chief shop steward at the integrated development site, Jari Punakivi, pointed out to the public broadcasting company that the shutdown plan was announced fairly quickly after the company scrapped its plan to divest the production unit. In March 2022, Stora Enso revealed that it intends to sell its paper business, but it abandoned the plan to sell the unit in January 2023.

They seem to be in a hurry. Even the snow didn t have the time to melt before they moved to another phase, he said.

Punakivi said news of the shutdown came as a surprise to at least some of the staff.