Espoo, Finland 04 August 2016 -- Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is planning to close down its wallpaper base machine PM3 and discontinue its loss-making wallpaper base manufacturing at the Kyro mill in Hämeenkyrö, Finland. The demand for wallpaper base is decreasing globally, and Metsä Board is focusing on paperboard, meaning that wallpaper base production is not included in the company's core business operations. In 2015, sales from Kyro's paper business operations totalled EUR 50 million, and the operating result was EUR -5 million.

In addition to the planned close down of the wallpaper base machine PM3, Metsä Board has a need to adjust and improve operations at the Kyro mill in order to increase its competitiveness. Therefore the company will commence related statutory labour negotiations covering all employees at the mill. According to the plan, the estimated personnel effect is up to 100 employees. All in all approximately 250 employees currently work at the Kyro mill.

After implementing possible changes, the folding boxboard machine, with an annual capacity of 190,000 tonnes, will still continue operating at the Kyro mill. In addition, Hämeenkyrön Voima's biopower plant, producing heat and electricity, is located in the mill area.

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of folding boxboards and white linerboards made from fresh forest fibres. Its lightweight paperboards are developed as the perfect fit for consumer goods, retail-ready and food service packaging. The pure fresh forest fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in northern forests.

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, converters and merchants. In 2015, the company's sales totalled EUR 2.0 billion, and it has approximately 2,600 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Metsä Group is a forerunner in bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on tissue and cooking papers, fresh forest fibre paperboards, pulp, wood products, and wood supply and forest services.

Metsä Group's sales totalled EUR 5 billion in 2015, and it employs approximately 9,600 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 116,000 Finnish forest owners.