SCA announced that it will close down a newsprint machine at Ortviken paper mill in Sundsvall, Sweden by the end of 2015, and recognize an impairment loss for the mill.
The Ortviken paper mill is locate in Sundsvall, Sweden, and currently has the capacity to produce 390,000 tpy of uncoated papers and 510,000 tpy of coated papers.
Efficiency improvement measures will be implemented at the Obbola and Munksund kraftliner mills, the company said.
According to SCA, the closure, impairment loss and efficiency improvement measures include total costs of approximately SEK 1.4 billion and will result in annual cost savings of about SEK 180m, of which approximately SEK 120m in lower depreciation, with full impact in 2017.
The paper machine that is planned for closure has a capacity of 135,000 tons and is the smallest and oldest of the four paper machines at Ortviken paper mill.
"The global demand for publication paper has declined in recent years, particularly for newsprint, and we have weak profitability at Ortviken paper mill," said Ulf Larsson, President of SCA Forest Products. "By closing down our smallest and oldest paper machine, we will be able to focus on profitable orders for the more efficient paper machines.
In conjunction with the closure of the paper machine, SCA intends to reduce staffing in production, transport and sales by approximately 95 positions.
The efficiency improvement measures at the Obbola and Munksund kraftliner mills are intended to lead to staff reductions at the two mills by approximately 30 positions, the company said.
