Stora Enso's Packaging Business Area plans to increase its cost competitiveness by restructuring its core and coreboard operationsin Finland, Germany, the United Kingdom and the USA, and streamlining corrugated packaging production in Finland.The planned restructuring measures would reduce approximately 80 employees in corrugated packaging operations in Finland, and approximately 70 employees in core and coreboard operations, mainly in Germany, Finland, the UK and the USA. In addition, the plans include possible temporary lay-offs at corrugated packaging operations in Finland. “In core and coreboard markets the main customer is the board and paper industry. Decreased demand for paper mill cores in mature markets has made the market situation tighter, and in the current financial situation the outlook is uncertain. Corrugated packaging markets are very local and closely related to national economies. In Finland demand is still clearly below pre-crisis levels, and there are no signs of sustained recovery,” says Mats Nordlander, Executive Vice President and Head of Stora Enso Packaging.”The planned restructuring and streamlining measures, including some development investments, will enable us to better meet customer and market expectations and ensure our competitiveness by being more cost efficient and streamlining our operations,” Nordlander says.Stora Enso's Packaging Business Area’s annual costs will, by the proposed measures, be reduces by approximately six million Euros, starting during the first quarter of 2012, with all planned actions to be completed by the end of the third quarter of 2012. Stora Enso will record a restructuring provision and an inventory write-down of approximately four million euros in the Industrial Packaging segment in the fourth quarter 2011 results.All decisions will be made after the local co-determination negotiations have been concluded. /AA