Plant closures are indicator of the paper industry's distress

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Producers hope that fine paper and publication paper capacity cuts will provide support for their price increases.

With the extensive closure of its Veitsiluoto mill, Stora Enso is to cut its capacity for uncoated fine paper considerably. It is expected that the next price round, announced for July deliveries at the latest, will gain additional momentum from the cuts. In the latest round, price increases were implemented despite difficult market conditions, but producers say that they were nowhere near sufficient to compensate for the enormous cost increases.


Stora Enso's plant closures are also particularly important to the publication paper sector. The closure of the Kvarnsveden mill primarily affects the uncoated publication paper segment, while the decision on Veitsiluoto marks the company's quasi exit from LWC production. Manufacturers of publication paper have also announced the higher prices from the middle of the year and are hoping that the latest production cuts will provide support for their urgently needed price adjustments.

This article is an excerpt from EUWID's next report on the German paper market. It will be available to our e-paper and print subscribers as of 5 May 2021.

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