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.
Metsä Wood, has initiated cooperation negotiations comprising all 370 of its’ plywood mill's employees in Suolahti, Finland. Metsä Wood plans to discontinue plywood production in Suolahti due to poor profitability. Profitability has been affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Russian timber exports have stopped.
According to the plans, production at the birch plywood mill would end by the end of first quarter of 2025 and production at the spruce plywood mill by the end of 2026 at the latest. These functions employ 170 and 200 people respectively.
Metsä Wood representative says personnel of Metsä Wood's new mill in Äänekoski would be recruited from the Suolahti mill, and permanent personnel would be offered the opportunity to work in other Metsä Group units. The new Ääneskoski mill is expected to employ 150 people and will be operational in 2026.
The union representative at the Suolahti mill state that the closure of the mill came as a surprise to the employees, and is disheartening news to the region as a whole. The mill has been operating on the site for over 100 years.
Metsä Wood, part of Finnish forest industry company Metsä Group, has 1,550 employees across 8 sites globally.
Update 2025-03-15
Metsä Wood's birch plywood production in Suolahti ended on 6 March 2025. By this date, 85 staff have been recruited to the Äänekoski Mill which will be operational in 2026. Approximately 20 employees have accepted positions in other Metsä Group units across the country.
Eurofound (2024), Metsä Wood, Closure in Finland, factsheet number 201731, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/201731.
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