The closure of PM61 in Madrid equates to almost ten percent of Holman Paper’s production capacity. Approximately 170 employees will be affected by the measure.“We’ve been working to make PM61 profitable for a long time now, both through cost savings and the development of new products. Our employees have made an excellent job, but we’ve been forced to concede that it’s not enough,” comments Magnus Hall, President and CEO of Holmen. “The machine is not sufficiently competitive to justify continued operation either in the short or long term. The decision is part of a strategy to focus our business on printing paper segments where Holmen Paper has high competitiveness.” PM61 has a capacity of 170,000 tons per year and produces coated magazine paper (LWC) as well as, to a lesser extent, improved newsprint. In recent years, the machine has seen low capacity utilization. Holmen acquired the mill in Madrid in 2000, by which time PM61 had been operating for two years. In 2005 the mill expanded with the addition of PM62, a new paper machine for large-scale production of newsprint. The production at Holmen's Madrid mill is based on 100 percent recovered paper as the raw material. The plant has its own energy supply in the form of a gas-fired CHP. After the closure, the mill will have a capacity of 330,000 tons.