UPM-Kymmene has closed down a mill in Canada earlier than planned, preceding strike plans by the local union.
The closure of the kraft mill, which was the first facility at the company’s Miramichi plant in the province of New Brunswick, was completed during three days in December and led to a loss of some 400 jobs, UPM disclosed in a filing.
It said: "UPM had asked the union to extend from 24 hours to 72 hours the notice it gives the company before striking, which would have allowed enough time for the safe closure of the kraft mill. The union however declined to agree to the additional notice, meaning the run-down of the kraft mill had to be started."
Communications manager Sharon Pond told OPI: "We are now purchasing kraft pulp from other locations for our paper manufacturing."
UPM also announced that it was withdrawing from plans for a possible future pulp mill in Zhanjiang in the Chinese province of Guangdong.
But it allegedly pulled out of the project, a joint venture with China Fuxing Pulp and Paper, as a result of studies of local conditions and the availability and cost of wood for a modern large-scale pulp mill.
Helsinki (FIN)
