Finland’s largest paper mill UPM in Kaipola to close permanently, 450 jobs lost

NordenBladet – The Finnish forestry giant UPM has announced that it will be closing its paper mill in Kaipola, the largest still in operation in Finland and the only mill to still produce newsprint paper inside the country. An estimated 450 jobs will be lost as a result of the closure.

In a press conference earlier today, UPM attributed a number of factors to the closure. Among these were rising labour costs, regulatory barriers, taxation issues, and the decreasing profitability of the paper mill itself.

Anu Ahola, UPM’s Director of Newsprint, also stressed the importance of “remaining competitive in a shrinking industry”. UPM also outlined further planned measures that could lead to a total of 1000 jobs being cut before the end of 2020.

The Kaipola paper mill is the only one in Finland that still produces newsprint paper. Many of the main newspapers in Finland source their paper directly from the Kaipola mill, meaning that they will have to switch suppliers once operations cease, as newsprint will have to be imported from abroad.

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UPM-Kymmene Oyj is a Finnish forest industry company. UPM-Kymmene was formed by the merger of Kymmene Corporation with Repola Oy and its subsidiary United Paper Mills Ltd in 1996. UPM consists of six business areas: UPM Biorefining, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Communication Papers and UPM Plywood. The Group employs around 18,700 people and it has production plants in 12 countries. UPM shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange. UPM is the only paper company which is listed in the global Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the only forest industry company invited to the United Nations Global Compact LEAD sustainability leadership platform.

UPM is the owner and maintainer of the Verla mill, which has been a museum since 1972 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.