Finnish sawmills are shutting down for the summer earlier than normal because of the continuing lockouts in the country’s paper industry.
Both UPM and Stora Enso confirmed that the dispute, currently in its sixth week, had led to a log supply shortage and a build up of woodchips, which are usually taken by paper manufacturers.
Miia Narekorpi, spokesperson for UPM wood products division, said “almost all” of the company’s sawmills were standing still due to the lockouts.
She said three mills had started their summer shutdowns two weeks early, while two others closed because of the lockouts will enter the seasonal break on July 18.
A further mill will start the holidays on June 27, with another following suit in early July.
The company’s other wood product facilities and plywood mills are unaffected.
Stora Enso’s wood products’ spokesperson Terhi Bergius confirmed that the lockouts had impacted most Finnish sawmills. But she said the decision to lay off 92 workers at the company’s Veitsiluoto sawmill was due to profitablity reasons rather than the dispute.
Veitsiluoto sawmill has an annual production capacity of 300,000m3 of sawn wood products for the construction and joinery industries and wood products trade.
Mills have been shut since May 16, when the Finnish Paper Workers’ Union held a two-day strike. Companies responded by locking out workers.
