Temporary closures amid ongoing strikes in the transport and logistic sector are also planned at UPM and Stora Enso mills, reports Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
On 11 March, labour union workers in the logistics and transport sectors in Finland entered into a two week strike in protest over government plans for labour market reforms and social welfare reduction. The strike is affecting the functioning of the country's ports and railway system, and if executed as announced is expected to have an impact on raw material supplies and deliveries in many industries.
Finnish Metsä group is one of the first companies in the forest products industry to announce production downtime due to the strikes. Pulp and board manufacturer Metsä Board, a member of the Metsä group, has announced temporary shutdown affecting the company's Kaskinen and Joutseno pulp mills.The shutdown was expected to start at the Kaskinen BCTMP mill on March 15, with the Joutseno BCTMP mill closing down production on 17 March, the company said. Chemical pulp operations at the Joutseno pulp mill run by the group's subsidiary Metsä Fibre are said to be closed as of 15 March.
The reason behind the mills' closure was the interruption of rail transport of wood raw material due to ongoing strikes in Finland, the group explained. The company did not provide information on the potential duration of the temporary downtime, but said that it expected the shutdowns to have significant financial impact and effect customers' deliveries.
Besides Metsä group, mill closures are reportedly on the agenda at the other two forest products industry giants in Finland, UPM Kymmene and Stora Enso. According to the public broadcaster Yle, UPM plans to shut down "at least four factories while the political strike is ongoing, and may close more." Stora Enso has prospected the closure of the company's Varkaus containerboard mill, reports Yle.
