Members of the Paperworkers’ Union, the Finnish Electrical Workers´ Union and the Trade Union Pro have this morning (1-Jan-2022) started strikes at UPM mills in Jämsänkoski, Kouvola, Lappeenranta, Pietarsaari, Rauma, Tampere and Valkeakoski. According to the unions, the strikes will continue until 6 o’clock on 22 January 2022 unless a new collective labour agreement is reached before that. The Paperworkers’ Union has not excluded any work from the strike, not even tasks critical to the society, such as operating and maintenance of water treatment and power plants. UPM businesses falling under the strikes are UPM Pulp, UPM Biofuels, UPM Communication Papers, UPM Specialty Papers and UPM Raflatac. The strikes do not concern UPM Plywood and UPM Timber, both of which signed business specific collective agreements with the Industrial Union in December. Furthermore, UPM Energy operates as usual, as it complies with the generally applied collective agreements of the energy industry.

SCA is changing the name of its business area Paper to business area Containerboard as of January 1, 2021. Following the discontinuation of its publication paper operations during the first quarter, SCA’s paper production will consist solely of packaging paper, a product with a stable and growing demand. SCA’s business area Containerboard will then comprise of the paper mills of Munksund, near Piteå, and Obbola, near Umeå (both in Sweden). Together, they have a production capacity of just over 850,000 tonnes. SCA is currently investing SEK 7.5bn in the Obbola paper mill, which will increase SCA’s containerboard capacity to 1,140,000 tonnes and further strengthen SCA’s position as a leading supplier of kraftliner on the European market.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador today announced that an agreement has been extended between Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro (Hydro) and Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited. The extended agreement, which became effective on October 1 for a period of six months, includes Hydro purchasing excess green energy from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper’s Deer Lake Power assets. In turn, Corner Brook Pulp and Paper will continue its efforts to identify new revenue sources from viable wood-based projects in order to unlock Newfoundland and Labrador’s high forest potential while further stabilizing the mill’s sustainability and future. The agreement between Hydro and Corner Brook Pulp and Paper for energy generated from Corner Brook Pulp and Paper’s existing power generation facilities will provide flexibility for Hydro to draw upon when needed, particularly during winter months. There is no impact on the ratepayer as a result of the agreement.