Metsa-Botnia, which is jointly owned by the Metsaliitto Group and UPM, has announced that it is considering the closure of its pulp mill in Kaskinen in 2009. Another option would be a temporary shutdown of production at the Kaskinen mill during the first quarter of 2009.
Metsa-Botnia explains its move by the poor profitability of the Kaskinen mill. “The net operating profit for 2009 will be clearly negative”, says Ilkka Hamala, the President and CEO of Metsa- Botnia.
The Kaskinen pulp mill was established 35 years ago, which means that in the pulp industry it is just a middle-aged plant. With a capacity of 450,000 tons, the Kaskinen mill is also medium-sized. The main product of the mill is hardwood pulp, which is made of both domestic birch and birch of Baltic origin. Apart of the raw material also comes from South America.
