UPM Announces 9 to 12 Months Shutdown at its Miramichi Mill
June 05 2007 - 10:15AM
PR Newswire (US)
Weak US Dollar and Low US Prices Make Canadian Production
Unprofitable HELSINKI, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UPM
(NYSE:UPM) will close its Miramichi mill operations in August for
up to one year. The paper mill is scheduled to close late in August
for 9 to 12 months. The nearby groundwood mill will also shut down.
About 600 employees will be impacted. The shutdown has a slightly
positive impact on UPM's operative result. The Miramichi mill has
two machines, producing lightweight coated paper, with an annual
capacity of 450,000 tonnes. Despite best efforts, Miramichi has not
been able to turn its exports to the U.S. profitable. The mill is
suffering from unprecedented strength of the Canadian dollar. Also,
market prices for the coated magazine paper have been decreasing in
North America. Demand for magazine grades in North America has been
stable, but globally, there continues to be overcapacity in
magazine paper, suppressing the sales price. In Europe, UPM has
permanently ceased production of 530,000 tonnes of coated magazine
paper during 2006-2007 to reduce the structural overcapacity and
improve profitability of the business. The Voikkaa mill in Finland
was permanently closed and a production line in Jamsankoski,
Finland, was converted to another business area. UPM also closed
150,000 tonnes of coated fine paper capacity at its Kymi mill,
Finland last year. "UPM's target is to improve the long-term
profitability of the coated paper business. With today's decision,
UPM leaves all options open for Miramichi. We will continue to
explore solutions for Miramichi during the shutdown but realize
that there needs to be material changes in the business environment
for the mill to start up again," said Jyrki Ovaska, President of
UPM's Magazine Paper Division. "The Miramichi management and
employees have succeeded in steadily improving the efficiency of
the mill," said Mr. Ovaska. "Unfortunately, their efforts could not
overcome the challenges in the business environment." Mr. Ovaska
said UPM's North American magazine paper customers will continue to
be served by the company's other coated groundwood paper mills in
North America and Europe during the Miramichi shutdown. A decision
on restarting Miramichi will be made in 2008, based on market
conditions. Previous press releases and additional material related
to UPM Miramichi mill are available on http://www.upm-kymmene.com/
=> Media Relations => Press Kits => UPM Miramichi
UPM-Kymmene Corporation Pirkko Harrela Executive Vice President,
Corporate Communications DISTRIBUTION Helsinki Exchanges New York
Stock Exchange Main media http://www.upm-kymmene.com/ DATASOURCE:
UPM-Kymmene Corporation CONTACT: For further information, please
contact: Sharon Pond, Communications Manager, UPM, North America,
tel.: +1-630-3862681; Jyrki Ovaska, President, Magazine Papers
Division, UPM, tel.: +358-204-15-0564
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