January 24, 2013
UPM has signed an agreement on the sale of assets and part of the land of the UPM Stracel paper mill site with Blue Paper SAS – the joint venture company of VPK Packaging Group NV and Klingele Papierwerke.
UPM expects to close the deal during March 2013. UPM stopped production of coated magazine paper at the mill on January 4 of this year.
According to UPM, Blue Paper SAS will convert the mill to produce recycled fibre-based fluting and test-liner, and production is expected to start after completing investments in September 2013.
Blue Paper SAS will create 130 new jobs at the mill that will be offered to former Stracel employees, UPM noted.
UPM said the sale of Stracel was part of its plan to adjust its magazine paper and newsprint paper capacity to match the needs of its global customer base originally announced in August 2011.