Ahlstrom has signed an agreement to divest its Aspa pulp mill in Sweden to Sweden Timber. The agreement includes the pulp mill and all its operations. This is a key step in Ahlstrom's growth transformation journey, reinforcing the company’s strategic commitment to sustainable specialty materials. Aspa pulp mill produces bleached and unbleached softwood pulp that is used in a broad range of applications in paper and sold globally. It has an annual capacity of approximately 200,000 tonnes and 174 employees. Several external parties have expressed interest in acquiring the Aspa plant throughout the years. For Ahlstrom, it was important to find an owner who has an interest in further developing the mill and ensuring its long-term success. Sweden Timber is a Swedish wood processing company with assets also in papermaking and wood composites.

Smurfit Westrock announced it will permanently close one of the two paper machines at its La Tuque, Quebec, mill. The machine's annual production capacity of 127,000 tons of solid bleached sulfate (SBS) paperboard has faced ongoing scale and cost challenges. SBS is used for foodservice and frozen foods packaging, along with healthcare, premium consumer goods and more. The machine closure is part of the company's commitment to strengthen its SBS portfolio and ensure the long-term competitiveness of its paperboard operations.

Finland's UPM-Kymmene and South Africa-listed Sappi are set to face an EU antitrust veto against their proposed €1.42 billion ($1.66 billion) paper joint venture after the companies declined to offer concessions to address competition concerns, people familiar with the matter said.  The companies also failed to convince regulators of the merits of their deal at a closed-door hearing earlier last week even after they argued about the sustainability and resilient impact of the deal, one of the people said. Difficulties finding a buyer for any potential asset sales mean it is not an option. Regulators, which will decide on the deal by November 11, also warned the combined entity could jack up prices.