The statutory negotiations with employee representatives are scheduled to begin next week and last at least six weeks.
The Anjalankoski facility utilizes two paper machines to produce coated and uncoated book papers, coated magazine paper, and improved newsprint. However, Stora Enso has drawn up a plan to concentrate all book production to one line because of low demand for paper and the high cost of production inputs.
The move is expected to affect about 110 employees and dent the annual revenue of the site by around 100 million euros. Although 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.
Stora Enso's head of packaging materials, Hannu Kasurinen, said in a press release that the decline in demand for newsprint and publish paper has accelerated further in the past six months, also reaching the previously more stable book paper market.
I'm sure that the decline in demand is ultimately the result of digitalisation. Although the outlook for the paper industry remains bleak, the packaging board market is still expanding.
Jari Punakivi, the chief shop steward at the integrated production site, 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 plans to give up its paper operations, 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, adding that even the snow didn 't have the time to melt.
The news of the shutdown plan came as a surprise to some of the staff, Punakivi said.