Metsäliitto Wood Products Industry to start statutory labour negotiations at the Kyröskoski sawmill

14/01/2010
Metsäliitto will commence statutory labour negotiations at the Kyröskoski
sawmill. The negotiations will concern the possible closing of the sawmill,
unless a profitable solution in regard to the whole situation is found for
continuing operations. 

"In recent years, a lot of new spruce sawmill capacity has been created in
Europe, which has decreased the competitiveness of the Finnish industry.
Moreover, the amount of spruce logs is not sufficient for all mills operating
in the region to be competitive. In order to enable profitable operations in
the long term, it is necessary to centralise production to units which have
preconditions to run at an optimal level", says Ole Salvén, Group Executive
Vice President of Metsäliitto Wood Products Industry. 

The negotiation proposal issued today concerns the entire personnel at the
sawmill, a maximum of 62 persons. The negotiations will start on 21 January
2010 and are planned to be concluded by the end of March 2010 in line with the
negotiations schedule. 

The Kyröskoski spruce sawmill is located in Hämeenkyrö in Finland. The annual
volume of sawn timber produced at the mill is approximately 200,000 cubic
metres. Over 50% of the production is exported, about 25% is delivered to
Metsäliitto Wood Products Industry for processing and the remainder is supplied
to domestic sales. Operations at the Kyröskoski sawmill have been suspended
since January 2009. 

Further information:

Ole Salvén, Group Executive Vice President, Metsäliitto Wood Products Industry
tel. +358 10 465 4870
Timo Karinen, Senior Vice President, Solid Wood Business Line
tel. +358 10 469 4173
Satu Holm-Jumppanen, Communications Manager, Metsäliitto Wood Products Industry
tel. +358 10 465 4684