Upm plans to permanently close a super-calendered (SC) paper machine at the publication paper mill Rauma, Finland and sell its Chapelle newsprint mill in Grand-Couronne, France. The measures aimed at reducing the company’s production capacity by 265,000 tpy of SC paper and 240,000 tpy of newsprint, respectively, UPM announced.
Upm was committed to maintaining its profitability and continued to actively manage production capacity in line with the structural decline of graphic paper demand. Both paper machines were the least cost competitive Upm assets in their respective product segments.
The closure of PM 2 at UPM Rauma is scheduled for completion by the end of 2019. The consultation processes with employees started on 10 September. Estimated reduction of personnel is 179 persons. The Rauma mill has a staff of 520 and runs three paper machine with a total capacity of some 675,000 tpy of coated magazine paper and 265,000 tpy of SC paper. Production on the remaining two LWC paper machines is said to continue as before.
As for the Chapelle newsprint mill, UPM announced it would start a bidding process for the sale of the mill. «In case no credible offer is received by mid-January 2020, a consultation process for a potential closure of the mill would be started while the search for a potential buyer would still continue», the company said. Chapelle mill has a staff of 236 and runs one paper machine. According to Upm, the objective is close the sales, or closure processes by the end of second quarter of 2020.