UPM will permanently close down Albbruck paper mill. The discussions between UPM, the employee representatives and local authorities did not lead to a solution for continuing the operations at the mill. Neither was the search for an investor successful, UPM writes in a press release. The closure of the mill is affecting the 508 employees of the mill. The personnel reductions will take place on 31 January.“UPM Albbruck mill has been making a loss for several years due to the age and relatively small size of the machines, and the mill is not cost competitive within UPM asset and global customer portfolio,” says Jyrki Ovaska, President, UPM’s Paper Business Group.During the negotiations concerning reconciliation of interest and social plan, issues such as pension schemes, support for re-employment, relocations within the company, re-training and compensation payments were discussed and agreed.“We understand the disappointment of the Albbruck mill employees. UPM will implement a social plan in order to alleviate the effects caused by personnel reductions in a responsible way,” says Hartmut Wurster, Executive Vice President, who represented UPM during the round table discussions.The sheeting lines of the mill will be transferred to the company’s paper mill in Plattling in order to complement UPM’s product portfolio. “UPM sees the coated mechanical sheets as solid business, and is committed to serve the customers after the Albbruck closure smoothly and promptly,” explains Jyrki Ovaska. Approximately 30 new positions will be created through this measure and applications from Albbruck specialists will be prioritized.The Albbruck decision finalizes the paper capacity closure plans that were announced by UPM last August. UPM Albbruck paper mill had a capacity of 320,000 tons of magazine papers. UPM Myllykoski paper mill in Finland with 600,000 tons of magazine papers was closed down in December 2011 and the PM3 at UPM Ettringen mill in Germany with 110,000 tons of newsprint was closed down on 14 December 2011.The sales process of the Stracel paper mill in France is ongoing as planned.