The statutory negotiations concerning Metsä Wood's Suolahti plywood mill, part of Metsä Group, which began in October, have ended. After the statutory negotiations, the company decided to close down the operations of the birch plywood mill by the end of the first quarter of 2025, and operations at the spruce plywood mill will end by the end of 2026 at the latest.

The statutory negotiations at the Suolahti mill concerned all the plywood mill's employees, in total about 370 people. The negotiations covered the reasons for the closure of the plywood mill and the personnel arrangements resulting from the planned closure. The permanent personnel of the Suolahti mill will be offered the opportunity to work in other Metsä Group units.

"The reason to end production at the Suolahti mill is based on its poor profitability. We are closing down the mill in stages to better enable the employment of personnel within Metsä Group", says Jaakko Anttila, Executive Vice President at Metsä Wood.

The Suolahti plywood mill has an annual production capacity of 35 000 m3 of birch plywood and 160 000 m3 of spruce plywood.