240 to lose job as Stora Enso closes Sunila pulp mill

Finnish pulp and paper giant Stora Enso completed the negotiation to permanently close down pulp production and lignin extraction at Sunila mill in Kotka, said the company in a press release on Monday.

The closure will impact 240 employees.

The Sunila site having the annual capacity of 375,000 tonnes of long-fiber and 50,000 tonnes of lignin and its production has been at a standstill since May.

The pilot plant for bio-based battery material will, as previously communicated, continue its operations at the Sunila site.

Stora Enso has progressed with its restructuring actions, announced on 15 June 2023.

These actions would reduce the number of employees by approximately 1,150. The parts of the change negotiations completed so far, will result in a reduction of 710 employees.

Stora Enso has, during the third quarter permanently, closed down one of the four containerboard production lines at its Ostrołęka site in Poland. The production line had an annual capacity of 120,000 tonnes of recycled containerboard. The closure impacts 50 employees locally.

In June, Stora Enso completed change negotiations in the Packaging Materials division with a reduction of approximately 250 positions in its management and support functions.

The consultation with employee representation relating to the planned closure of the De Hoop containerboard site in the Netherlands is ongoing and is expected to be concluded during the fourth quarter of 2023. The site has an annual capacity of 380,000 tonnes, employing 185 people.

Stora Enso has decided to permanently close its Näpi sawmill in Estonia. The sawmill has an annual capacity of 50,000 m3 of sawn timber, 180,000 m3 of further processed wood products and 25,000 tonnes of pellets. The closure will take place during the fourth quarter of 2023 and directly impact approximately 90 employees in Estonia.

Stora Enso has concluded change negotiations regarding a reduction of office employees within its Group functions in Finland.

As a result of the negotiations, approximately 80 employees within the Group functions in Finland will be laid off. The negotiations in other countries are still ongoing and are expected to be concluded by the end of 2023.

The completed and ongoing restructuring actions would decrease Stora Enso’s annual sales by approximately EUR 380 million, based on the 2022 numbers.

Operational EBIT is expected to improve by approximately EUR 110 million annually.

Stora Enso has recorded in the Q2/2023 results as an item affecting comparability (IAC) approximately EUR 140 million non-cash asset impairments related to the planned closures and approximately EUR 80 million costs relating to the potential lay-offs and restructuring expenses, with cash outflows impacting future quarters.