Stora Enso sheds capacity as part of restructuring

Stora Enso Oyj, a Finland-based forest products company, has made several operational changes tied to restructuring actions that had been previously announced in mid-June.

During the current third quarter in progress, Stora Enso permanently has closed one of the four containerboard production lines at its Ostrołęka site in Poland. That production line had an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons of recycled-content containerboard.

The company also says a 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 this year.

That site, which was purchased by Stora Enso in January as part of an acquisition announced last year, has an annual capacity of 380,000 metric tons.

Virgin fiber production has not been spared either. The company also has concluded the change negotiations at its Sunila, Finland, site and decided to permanently close pulp production and lignin extraction at the location.

The Sunila site has an annual capacity of 375,000 metric tons of long-fiber pulp and 50,000 metric tons of lignin. Stora Enso says production at the site has been at a standstill since May and will not be ramped up.

In June, Stora Enso completed negotiations in its Packaging Materials division it says will result in a reduction of approximately 250 management and support positions.

Not mentioned in the paper and board company’s update are plans for its mill in Langerbrugge, Belgium. In 2022, Stora Enso announced it was initiating a study that would focus on the conversion of the site’s newsprint paper line into a high-volume recycled containerboard line.