Additional production cuts are being planned by Stora Enso for its wood products business in Finland, Estonia and the Czech Republic.
The mill closures, shift reductions, efficiency measures and extended maintenance stoppages are supplemented by plans to restructure the Estonian joinery components business by permanently closing the Viljandi mill and transferring the business to Imavere.
The planned measures and earlier actions already agreed in the company’s operations in Austria, Sweden and the Baltic states would reduce total production by about 1.2 million m³ per year.
Stora Enso will start negotiations about temporary lay-offs for wood products staff at its Kitee, Tolkkinen and Kotka sawmills and possible lay-offs at its distribution operation Puumerkki Oy.
The total number of employees affected in Finland is 460. Thirty jobs could be lost at the Plana sawmill in the Czech Republic and about 40 at Viljandi.
Paikuse sawmill in Estonia, which has an annual capacity of 170,000m³, was closed permanently in October, instead of December as earlier announced.
Most Stora Enso sawmills plan to take extended Christmas breaks to curtail production and adjust inventory levels.
The group blamed the action on weakening demand, falling sales prices and continuing oversupply.
“The planned actions will strengthen our position for the very difficult quarters to come, although we cannot be sure that they will be enough,” said Hannu Kasurinen, head of Stora Enso Wood Products.
“We will limit our exposure to the least competitive raw material regions, aggressively reduce our inventory levels and reorganise our product portfolio to improve profitability.”
