Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
The Finnish paper and forestry company Stora Enso is planning to close down its pulp production unit in Sunila, Kotka, in the second half of 2023 and the closing of the plant is estimated to cause a loss of 250 employments.
The restructuring actions are a part of Stora Enso's large cost-cutting measures, causing reductions in staff in several functions and in several countries. In addition to the Finnish unit, the company is also planning on closing units in Netherlands, Poland and Estonia - leading to around 1,150 redundancies in total.
The primary shop steward at the Sunila unit said to newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, that the information about the closing down came as a surprise to the staff, but that he knows the industry has gone through challenging times lately. They will try and get the best possible result in the change negotiations, he adds, which for the employees would be the continuation of production.
Stora Enso has gone through several unit closures in 2021 in both Sweden (Stora Enso 2021 - SE) and Finland (Stora Enso 2021 - FI). The latest closure concerned one paper machine at its’ factory in Anjalankoski, Finland.
Stora Enso is a Finnish-based multinational company with around 23,000 employees worldwide and approximately 5,600 employees in Finland.
Update 27/9/2023: The closing of the pulp production unit will result in 240 redundancies in Kotka, and in the lay-offs of 80 office workers in group functions in Finland.
Eurofound (2023), Stora Enso, Closure in Finland, factsheet number 109204, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/109204.