UPM Pulp to Temporarily Curtail Production at Kymi and Kaukas Pulp Mills in Finland

Aug. 22, 2024 - UPM announced that it will temporarily curtail production at its UPM Kaukas and UPM Kymi pulp mills in Finland to adjust their production to meet market conditions.

The mills' production will be curtailed in accordance with the change negotiations held in March.

"We are adjusting our production as a normal measure in line with market and cost developments, focusing on profitability," said Marko Sundqvist, Vice President, Pulp Operations Finland.

The shutdown of the Kaukas pulp mill will start on September 9 and the shutdown of the Kymi pulp mill on September 23. The shutdowns are estimated to last for three weeks. Maintenance work will be carried out during part of the shutdown period, but temporary layoffs are possible.

UPM's pulp mills in Pietarsaari and in Uruguay will continue to run at full capacity. Deliveries to customers will continue normally during the shutdowns.

UPM Kaukas

The Kaukas mill, which is located in Lappeenranta in South East Finland, is an integrated facility that consists of the pulp mill, a mill producing magazine paper, a sawmill, a biorefinery producing wood-based diesel, and UPM's research centre. The pulp mill has the capacity to produce 700,000 tonnes per year of softwood pulp on two production lines.

UPM Kymi

The Kymi mill is located along the River Kymi in Kouvola in South East Finland. The integrated Kymi mill includes a pulp mill and a paper mill. The pulp mill has the capacity to produce 870,000 tonnes per year of softwood and birch pulp.

UPM has five pulp mills — three in Finland and two in Uruguay — with a combined annual production capacity of 5.8 million tonnes. Its new pulp mill in central Uruguay started operations in April 2023 and is capable of producing 2.1 million tonnes of eucalyptus pulp annually.

SOURCE: UPM