Poznan, Poland 16 July 2013 -- Arctic Paper is reacting to the structural market weakness by reducing its workforce and production capacity at its site in Mochenwangen, Germany.

Arctic Paper is planning to shut down PM 1, the smallest of the three machines at the integrated Mochenwangen paper mill. The move is to result in the elimination of 14 of around 200 jobs, meaning some employees would be made redundant.

Managing director Lothar Burchardt told EUWID that the company said it had to close down the machine because it needed to restructure the mill’s portfolio. Not only is PM 1 the oldest machine, but with a width of 2.40 m, it is also the least profitable of the production machines and should therefore permanently be shut down as quickly as possible, Burchardt said. The equipment has been temporarily idled since 11 June and the affected employees have since been on a short-time work scheme with zero hours.

PM 1 has a capacity of 15,000-18,000 tpy and was used mainly to produce mechanical book paper. Arctic Paper Mochenwangen will now produce this grade on the other two paper machines, leading to a reduction in their output of improved newsprint. The two other paper machines have a combined capacity of around 100,000 tpy.

Arctic Paper acquired the Mochenwangen paper mill in 2009. On three paper machines, the mill produced 120,000 t of paper annually, including mechanical bulky book paper and offset paper as well as wallpaper base and specialty papers such as backer paper.