Holmen Reducing Workforce at Braviken Paper Mill

Holmen Paper, Stockholm, Sweden, is opening union negotiations to reduce the workforce at its Braviken Paper Mill, outside of Norrköping. Employees were informed yesterday (November 16) about the coming job cuts, which will affect around 80 people. The main reasons for the cutbacks, the company notes, are continued poor profitability and increasing competition.

"Holmen Paper's profitability is already low and we are continuing to experience tough market conditions," explains Henrik Sjölund, head of Holmen Paper. "We are therefore stepping up work on cutting our fixed costs. Unfortunately this will mean losing some employees."

In addition to job cuts at Braviken, Holmen is also overhauling its central functions such as marketing and sales. Alongside this, the company is switching to more refined products.

"Holmen Paper is in the middle of restructuring the Swedish units so that they produce more refined and thus more profitable products, and that strategy will remain in place," Sjölund said. "We are exploiting the competitive advantages that our access to virgin fiber brings and increasingly becoming a specialist paper company."

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