Stora Enso plans to consolidate book paper production and permanently close one of its two paper machines in Anjala, Finland. The group will begin negotiations for all employees at the integrated Anjalankoski site.
The Anjalankoski site in Finland includes the Ingerois packaging board production unit and the Anjala paper production unit. Today, the Anjala production unit produces coated and uncoated book paper, coated magazine paper, and improved newsprint on two machines. Due to weak demand for paper and high production costs, Stora Enso has initiated a plan to concentrate all book paper production on one line. With the remaining paper machine, the Group would be able to continue producing its selection of book paper grades. The planned closure of the line producing uncoated mechanical grades would reduce the site’s annual capacity by 250 thousand tons and sales by about 100 million.
To proceed with this plan Stora Enso will initiate change negotiations regarding all employees at the integrated Anjalankoski site, including the Anjala paper unit and the Ingerois administrative unit. The closure would take place during the fourth quarter of 2023 and would affect about 110 people. No decision on the planned closure and staff reduction will be made until the change negotiations are concluded. Stora Enso will commit to working closely with other Stora Enso locations, the local community, and other stakeholders to support the re-employment and training of any affected employees.
The planned closure of the production line would not have a significant impact on Stora Enso’s operating Ebit. Due to the further deterioration in long-term market demand, Stora Enso recorded 19 million euros in non-cash asset write-downs related to the Anjala site in its Q1 2023 results as an item affecting comparability. “The decline in demand for newsprint and publication paper has further accelerated and has also reached the previously more stable book paper market. Therefore, to ensure the viability of our book paper offering, we plan to focus all our efforts on the remaining production line in Anjala and continue to serve our book paper customers with high-quality products” says Hannu Kasurinen, EVP Packaging materials division.
The integrated Anjalankoski site is reported within the Packaging Materials division from the beginning of 2023. The site includes the Ingerois packaging board production unit and the Anjala paper production unit, the latter previously brought back into the now dissolved Paper division. Stora Enso will continue to exploit the site’s synergies between paperboard and paper production.