UPM continues to selectively align its paper capacity with profitable customer demand to ensure performance and therefore plans to permanently close its paper mill in Ettringen, Germany, reducing the annual capacity of uncoated mechanical paper by 270,000 tonnes during July 2025.
Should the plans be implemented the number of positions affected in Ettringen is estimated at 235. The participation process with the workers council will start immediately in line with local legislation.
“In a dynamically changing market that has been characterized by overcapacity for years, operational competitiveness is key to underpinning our long-term commitment to the still sizeable graphic paper markets and remaining the reliable partner our customers know us to be,” says Gunnar Eberhardt, Executive Vice President, UPM Communication Papers.
“With the plans announced today, we are continuing to selectively adjust our paper capacity to a profitable customer demand. This would ensure an efficient and flexible use of our remaining paper assets. While we see these planned changes to be necessary to safeguard our strong position and future, we are aware that today’s announcement demands much from our employees in Ettringen. We aim to handle the restructuring measures in a socially responsible way and will engage now into dialogue with employee representatives,” says Gunnar Eberhardt.
Additional measures with clear focus on operational efficiency
As one of the largest and most committed producers of graphic papers, UPM Communication Papers is constantly working to remain relevant and competitive in the long term. Even when production capacities must be adjusted to meet customer demand, the global paper market remains sizeable, presenting opportunities for agile and competitive players.
By benchmarking and sharing best practices across all mills, UPM Communication Papers aims to enhance efficiency, improve cross-departmental flexibility, and streamline organizational structures within its mill operations in Augsburg, Schongau, Kaukas, Kymi, Rauma, Jämsänkoski, Blandin and Caledonian.
In addition, UPM sees further optimization potential by centralizing processes and organizational structures within logistics operations in the German mills.
In order to realize further benefits of a scalable and efficient Sourcing organization, we plan to discontinue the Central European Mill Support (CEMS) team and streamline our Mill Sourcing and RCP Sourcing teams according to new capacities.
All affected mills and functions will follow up with their own implementation steps during 2025, and we are committed to working closely with affected employees, handling possible employment actions in accordance with local legislation. According to the plans, we estimate approximately 227 positions to be affected in our mill organizations and functions.
“With the planned measures we improve cost efficiency and competitiveness, while ensuring a reliable supply from our production locations in Finland, Germany, the UK and the USA, ” says Antti Hermonen, Senior Vice President Operations, UPM Communication Papers.
Considering all planned changes announced today by Communication Papers, there would be a total of 462 positions impacted, thereof 107 in Finland, 314 in Germany, 34 in the UK and 7 in the USA
These plans are a continuation of necessary steps to proactively align with customer demand and ensure competitiveness. UPM would recognize restructuring charges of EUR 74 million (EUR 60 million cash impact and an impairment of EUR 14 million) as items affecting comparability in its Q1 2025 result. The planned actions are estimated to result in annual fixed cost savings of EUR 39 million.
For further information please contact:
UPM Communication Papers, Communications, tel. +49 821 3109 225, paperinfo@upm.com
For local information please contact:
Wolfgang Ohnesorg, General Manager UPM Ettringen/Schongau, tel. +49 8249 802100
(best available from 16:00-17:00 CET)
UPM, Media Relations
Mon-Fri 9:00-16:00 EET
tel. +358 40 588 3284
media@upm.com
About UPM Ettringen
UPM Ettringen manufactures uncoated mechanical papers with the annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes. Located in South Germany the site employs around 235 people.
UPM Communication Papers
As a leading company in the paper industry, we drive the value of paper as a sustainable medium of trust, impact, learning and inspiration. UPM Communication Papers offers the industry’s widest portfolio for newspaper, magazine, marketing and book printing as well as for home and office applications. Our high performing papers and service concepts add value to our customers' businesses, while actively fulfilling demanding environmental and social responsibility criteria. With headquarters in Germany, UPM Communication Papers employs approximately 5,000 people and has 10 modern paper mills globally. Our annual production capacity is 4.3 million tonnes of graphical paper. More about us and our products at www.upmpaper.com
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UPM
UPM is a material solutions company, renewing products and entire value chains with its extensive portfolio of renewable fibres, advanced materials, decarbonization solutions, and communication papers. Our sustainability performance has been recognized by third parties, including EcoVadis and the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices. We operate globally and employ approximately 15,800 people worldwide, with annual sales of approximately EUR 10.3 billion. Our shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. UPM – We renew the everyday www.upm.com
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