Due to poor market conditions, Turkish cartonboard producer Kartonsan stopped production on one of its two board machines. BM 1, which was already temporarily halted from 24 June until the end of July, was not restarted and is now slated to stay idle until further notice, the company says.
42 employees are affected by the shutdown. The shutdown has reportedly no impact on production on the second board machine at the site.
The move is a reaction to the currently weak order situation on the cartonboard markets, resulting in poor profitability. It has not been determined how long the stoppage will last. The machine would be restarted only when the market environment changed for the better and sales prices rose again, Kartonsan said.
At its mill in İzmit, Kartonsan produces coated cartonboard for several segments including the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry on two machines. BM 1, which was now shut down, has a capacity of 80,000 tpy. BM 2 will continue operations as normal. The machine can produce up to 160,000 tpy of cartonboard.
