UPM plans closure of Plattling mill in Germany

Paper Solutions

UPM Communication Papers has announced plans to permanently close its Plattling mill in Germany, reducing the uncoated and coated publication paper capacity by 595,000 tonnes in Europe. These plans are a continuation of steps to proactively ensure competitiveness of operations and align graphic paper capacity to a profitable customer demand.

The planned closure of UPM Plattling’s two papermachines would lead to a permanent reduction of 380,000 tonnes of uncoated publication paper and 215,000 tonnes of coated publication paper. Both papermachines are planned to stop graphic paper production by the end of 2023.

During the past 15 years the demand for graphic papers has been declining constantly and this trend is expected to continue. The decline in demand has been accentuated significantly over the course of this year. Furthermore, the long term predictability of production factors, such as energy supply, is essential to the industry. The uncertainty about reliability and cost competitiveness of the energy supply in Germany is currently a big challenge.