Stora Enso to start negotiations on temporary layoffs at its Oulu and Imatra mills in Finland

Stora Enso is to conduct negotiations on possible temporary layoffs for its two Finnish plants in Oulu and Imatra. As a company spokesperson confirmed, negotiations on the 90 days of layoffs, which is often standard practice in Finland, are to start with employee representatives at the Oulu plant from the second week of January. Negotiations are also planned for the Imatra plant.

The negotiations are a preventative measure in the event that temporary layoffs could become necessary, the company spokesperson continued. If necessary, a total of 90 days of layoffs could then be taken individually in 2024, but no concrete decisions have yet been made. Negotiations are expected to take around two weeks.

 The company said that around 300 employees at the Oulu plant, where a total of around 400 people are employed, will be affected by the potential layoffs. The 100 employees working at the plant as part of the current conversion project are not part of the negotiations, the company spokesperson explained.

Stora Enso produces up to 450,000 tpy of kraftliner at its Oulu mill, which also has 530,000 tpy of pulp production capacity. The mill, which is part of the company’s Packaging Material division and had been producing woodfree coated paper until September 2020, is currently converting the second decommissioned paper machine to produce carton board (FBB, CUK) for applications in the food industry. Once completed, the converted former PM 6 will have a production capacity of around 750,000 tonnes per year.

Stora Enso’s Imatra mill complex, consisting of the two production units Kaukopää and Tainionkoski, produces consumer packaging boards, including polymer-coated grades, with a production capacity of 1.2 million tpy. In addition, there is a production capacity for pulp totaling 1.3 million tpy.