Stora Enso to restructure fine paper operations
Stora Enso plans to restructure operations at Nymölla mill in Sweden. At Uetersen mill in Germany the plan is to restructure operations more towardsspeciality papers, and at Oulu mill in Finland, together with the sheeting plants in Belgium and the United Kingdom, to find the most efficient way toutilise the converting capacity and streamline operations.By the proposed measures, Stora Enso plans to reduce annual costs by approximately 20 million Euros, starting during 2011 with all actions to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2012.The proposed restructuring measures would affect altogether up to 285 employees in Finland, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom. The plans will not affect the paper production capacities.Stora Enso will record a cash provision of approximately 16 million Euros as a non-recurring item in its second quarter operating profit.“The plans announced today would make Stora Enso Fine Paper more flexible and cost efficient, and so better able to meet customer and market expectations.Fine paper demand is still clearly below pre-crisis levels, and there are no signs of sustained recovery. We have been successfully remodelling our operations during the past few years, and now we plan to continue on the chosen path of improving our existing businesses” says Hannu Alalauri, Executive Vice President, Fine Paper Business Area."We are comparing the best practices at all our mills so we can continuously adopt the most efficient ways of working. Similarly, we need to question our way of running the operations,” Hannu Alalauri continues.