Stora Enso Announces Pending Q3 Closure of Paper Mills – Veitsiluoto in Finland and Kvarnsveden in Sweden

For over a decade paper demand in Europe has been on the decline. The COVID-19 pandemic further changed consumers behavior patterns and led to a significant overcapacity in the European paper market, which has resulted in historically low-price levels and challenged the cost-competitiveness of many paper mills. As a result, Stora Enso has announced that they intend to permanently close the Veitsiluoto mill in Finland and Kvarnsveden mill in Sweden sometime in Q3 of 2021. In a statement prepared for the announcement Stora Enso’s President and CEO Annica Bresky said, “This is heavy news for our company and our colleagues at Veitsiluoto and Kvarnsveden mills. Our people at the sites are very competent and have done their utmost during very difficult circumstances. Unfortunately, in the rapidly declining paper market, we need to adjust our production capacity to improve the competitiveness of our total paper business. This sadly means the closure of unprofitable assets. As communicated last year, we have reviewed our strategy and are shaping our business for accelerated growth and value. We are focusing on packaging, building solutions and biomaterials innovations, where we see strong growth potential.”