UPM-Kymmene - Company Announcement

UPM to close down the Albbruck paper mill and transfer the sheeting lines to Plattling

(UPM, Helsinki, 15 January 2012 at 11:00 EET) - UPM will permanently close down
the unprofitable Albbruck paper mill in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The
discussions between UPM, the employee representatives and local authorities did
not lead to a solution for continuing the operations at the mill. Neither was
the search for an investor successful. The closure of the mill is affecting the
508 employees of the mill. The personnel reductions will take place on 31
January 2012. 

“UPM Albbruck mill has been making a loss for several years due to the age and
relatively small size of the machines and the mill is not cost competitive
within UPM asset and global customer portfolio. Under the difficult
circumstances the highly qualified employees have done an excellent job.
Unfortunately, it would not have been possible to improve the mill's
profitability to an extent that would have allowed sustainable operations,”
says Jyrki Ovaska, President, UPM's Paper Business Group. 

During the negotiations concerning reconciliation of interest and social plan,
issues such as pension schemes, support for re-employment, relocations within
the company, re-training and compensation payments were discussed and agreed. 

“We understand the disappointment of the Albbruck mill employees. All the
participants of the round table discussions have done their utmost to find a
future-oriented concept for the mill. Despite this strong commitment of people
involved, no solution could be found as the concepts presented by potential
investors were not economically sound. UPM will implement a social plan in
order to alleviate the effects caused by personnel reductions in a responsible
way,” says Hartmut Wurster, Executive Vice President, who represented UPM
during the round table discussions. 

The sheeting lines of the mill will be transferred to the company's paper mill
in Plattling in order to complement UPM's product portfolio. “UPM sees the
coated mechanical sheets as solid business, and is committed to serve the
customers after the Albbruck closure smoothly and promptly,” explains Jyrki
Ovaska. Approximately 30 new positions will be created through this measure and
applications from Albbruck specialists will be prioritized. 

Discussions about future use of the premises ongoing

UPM will participate in the follow-up of the round table discussions about the
possible future use of the mill premises. The discussions will be led by the
local Chamber of Commerce. “The aim of this forum is to find development ideas
and business opportunities for the site. We have already been contacted by
companies who are potentially interested in the industrial use of the mill
premises”, says Hartmut Wurster. 

The Albbruck decision finalizes the paper capacity closure plans that were
announced by UPM last August. UPM Albbruck paper mill had a capacity of 320,000
tonnes of magazine papers. UPM Myllykoski paper mill in Finland with 600,000
tonnes of magazine papers was closed down on 9 December 2011 and the paper
machine 3 at UPM Ettringen paper mill in Germany with 110,000 tonnes of
newsprint was closed down on 14 December 2011. 

The sales process of the Stracel paper mill in France is ongoing as planned.


For further information please contact:
Jyrki Ovaska, President, Paper Business Group, UPM, tel.: +358 2041 50564
Hartmut Wurster, Executive Vice President, UPM, tel.: +49 821 3109 264
Matthias Scharre, General Manager, UPM Albbruck, tel.: +49 7753 41 201



Notes for Editors

UPM Albbruck
UPM Albbruck paper mill manufactures coated magazine papers including
sheet-fed. Its three production lines have a combined annual capacity of
320,000 tonnes. The mill was founded in 1882 and is located in south Germany. 



UPM-Kymmene Corporation
Pirkko Harrela
Executive Vice President,
Corporate Communications


UPM, Corporate Communications
Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284
communications@upm.com
wwww.upm.com

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