(UPM, Helsinki, 18 February, 2013 at 10.30 EET) - UPM Plywood calls off anticipated lay-offs decided at its birch plywood mills in Finland for the first half of the year. Joensuu, Jyväskylä and Savonlinna plywood mills had decided lay-offs lasting maximum of 90 days based on the employee negotiations held during the end of 2012. This anticipation of lay-offs was based on weak order stock and scarcity of logs.
“Birch plywood market situation and raw material availability have improved since the turn of the year and lay-offs have not been implemented in any of the mills. Lay-offs will not be needed during the spring either, so they will be cancelled in whole”, says Kim Poulsen, Senior Vice President, UPM Plywood.
Uncertainty in the spruce plywood markets is continuing, though, and lay-offs decided at the Pellos mills will remain for time being.
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UPM Plywood offers high quality WISA® plywood and veneer products mainly for the construction and transport industries as well as UPM Grada® thermoformable wood material for the furniture and manufacturing industries. The sales of UPM Plywood in 2012 were EUR 387 million and it has about 2,500 employees, including 1,700 in Finland. UPM has six plywood mills and a veneer mill in Finland as well as plywood mills in Russia and Estonia. – www.wisaplywood.com
UPM leads the way in integrating bio and forest industries into a new, sustainable and innovation-driven future. Our products are made of renewable raw materials and are recyclable. The company’s business is divided into three business areas: Energy and Pulp, Paper and Engineered Materials. UPM employs approximately 22,000 people and has production plants in 17 countries. The company’s annual turnover amounts to more than EUR 10 billion. UPM's shares are listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. UPM – The Biofore Company – www.upm.com