Stora Enso to shut down Sollenau plant

Stora Enso, Helsinki/FI, today announced plans to close its sawmill in Sollenau/AT. The move comes as part of an efficiency program which has an impact on the regional composition of mills. While the sawmill in the south of Vienna with 125 employees will be closed down, the group has invested € 28 million in its Polish sawmill Murow. The omitted capacity in Sollenau Stora Enso intends to compensate with increased output in its sawmills in Brand/AT, Bad St. Leonhard/AT, Ybbs/AT, Plana/CZ and Zdirec/CZ.

The closure of Sollenau will affect 125 employees. Production will phase out until the end of the current quarter. The lines for glulam beams and the planed timber will keep running until well into the 2Q 2015, but will then also be discontinued. The production capacity of the sawmill is 400,000 m³/yr of lumber. By closing it Stora Enso expects annual savings of € 7 million. One-off costs related to the restructuring are estimated at € 10 million.

The investments in Poland, however, will raise production to 140,000 m³/yr in the first stage. Within the next five years, output is scheduled to increase to 400,000 m³/yr – the very amount which is being omitted in Sollenau.