Displaying items by tag: finland

Stora Enso expects to begin temporarily shutting down its Finnish mills in the near future due to the strike by the stevedores at Finnish ports.

The impact of the strike on Stora Enso's financial results is estimated to be approximately EUR 2.5 million per day.

"The impact of the strike will be wide and indefinite. The strike will severely tarnish the reputation of the Finnish forest products industry and its whole value chain," says Juha Vanhainen, Stora Enso Country Manager Finland.

For further information, please contact:
Juha Vanhainen, Country Manager Finland, tel. +358 2046 21343
Ulla Paajanen-Sainio, Head of Investor Relations, tel. +358 2046 21242
Lauri Peltola, Head of Communications, tel. +358 2046 21380
Päivi Kauhanen, Director, Communications Finland, tel. +358 2046 21292

(UPM, Helsinki, 3 March 2010 at 09:30 EET) – The Finnish Transport Workers' Union strike which started on Tuesday, 2 March 2010, will stop transportation of raw materials to UPM's Finnish mills and seriously impede the transportation of products from mills to its customers. The strike will have an immediate impact on the operations of all UPM mills in Finland. If the strike will expand to cover the stevedores of the Finnish ports, this will in effect shut down all of UPM's paper machines in Finland within a few days. The financial impact of the strike in UPM's result is estimated to exceed EUR 3 million a day.

UPM will commence paper mill shut downs in Finland as soon as operations are no longer possible due to the lack of raw material and paper storage. In line with the Finnish Contracts of Employment Act UPM will suspend salary payment 7 days after the end of paper machine production work.

UPM aims to deliver its customer orders from its mills located in other countries. Nearly half of UPM's paper production capacity is located in Finland.

For more information, please contact:
Hans Sohlström, UPM, Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and Development, tel. +358 2041 50542

Stora Enso's Annual Report 2009 is published today as PDF documents. Stora Enso's Annual Report is comprised of three separate reports: Stora Enso 2009, Financial Performance 2009 and Sustainability Performance 2009.

Stora Enso 2009 is available in English, Finnish and Swedish. Financial Performance 2009 and Sustainability Performance 2009 are available in English. All three reports can be downloaded at the Group's website at www.storaenso.com/annualreport.

The printed Annual Report will be published during the week commencing Monday 8 March 2010. Stora Enso 2009 will be distributed to those shareholders in Finland and Sweden who have so requested, and to all registered ADR holders. Printed copies of all the reports can be ordered at www.storaenso.com/order or by sending an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All of these documents are available on the Group's website.

For further information, please contact:
Sanna Lahti, Director, Financial and Change Communications, tel. +358 2046 21251

www.storaenso.com
www.storaenso.com/investors

Stora Enso is the world leader in forest industry sustainability. We offer our customers solutions based on renewable raw materials. Our products provide a climate-friendly alternative to many non-renewable materials, and have a smaller carbon footprint. Stora Enso is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and
the FTSE4Good Index. Stora Enso employs some 27 000 people worldwide, and our sales in 2009 amounted to EUR 8.9 billion. Stora Enso shares are listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki (STEAV, STERV) and Stockholm (STE A, STE R). In addition, the shares are traded in the USA as ADRs (SEOAY) in the International OTCQX over-the-counter market.

STORA ENSO OYJ

Jari Suvanto Ulla Paajanen-Sainio

Attachments:
stora enso_eng_sustainability_performance_2009.pdf
stora enso_eng_corporate governance 2009.pdf
stora enso_eng_financial_performance_2009.pdf
stora enso_eng_parent company financial statements_2009.pdf
stora_enso_2009_eng.pdf

Pöyry has been awarded a contract for developing a basic engineering package and supplying related services for Borealis AG's semi-commercial catalyst plant located in Linz, Austria. The contract value is not disclosed. The total investment cost for the whole plant is approximately EUR 75 million.

The services will be completed by the end of July 2010. This assignment supports Pöyry's position as a provider of comprehensive engineering and project services to the chemical and process industries.

Borealis is a leading provider of chemical and innovative plastics solutions that create value for society. With sales of EUR 6.6 billion in 2008, customers in over 120 countries, and 5400 employees worldwide, Borealis is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has production locations, innovation centres and customer service centres across Europe and the Americas. Through Borouge, a joint venture between Borealis and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), the company's footprint reaches out to the Middle East, Asia Pacific, the Indian sub-continent and Africa. Building on the unique Borstar® technology and their experience in polyolefins for more than 50 years Borealis and Borouge are leading provider of innovative plastics solutions.

Pöyry supports the aims of Borealis in developing sustainable solutions in close co-operation.

Additional information by:
Jouni Takakarhu, President, Business Area Chemicals, Industry business group
tel. +358 10 33 21157

Stora Enso to centralise the use of recovered fibre-based packaging in Finland at Pori

Closure of recycling plant at Varkaus and core plant at Pori planned - temporary newsprint layoff plan at Varkaus

Stora Enso is planning to centralise the use of recovered fibre-based packaging in Finland at the Corenso Pori coreboard mill. A recycling plant investment at the Pori coreboard mill will enable all the used packaging collected from households in Finland to be utilised at Pori. This includes used beverage cartons collected in Finland. Permanent closure of the recycling plant at Varkaus at the end of the third quarter of 2010 is planned. The Ecogas gasification plant associated with the Varkaus recycling plant will continue to operate. The Varkaus recycling plant employs 15 people.

As a part of the restructuring, Stora Enso's wholly-owned subsidiary Corenso also plans to centralise core production in Finland at Loviisa and Imatra, and permanently close down the core plant at Pori in the third quarter of 2010. Demand for cores has drastically decreased in Finland in recent years due to paper machine shutdowns and production curtailments. The Pori core plant employs 15 people.

"Recycling recovered fibre-based packaging at the same site as a board machine using the material is logistically efficient and reduces costs significantly. The plan to centralise core production at Loviisa and Imatra would also yield significant cost savings and improve Corenso's operating conditions in difficult and uncertain markets," says Sampo Antti, head of the Corenso business unit, explaining the plans.
There are no major financial provisions related to these measures.

Varkaus newsprint production curtailed until further notice Stora Enso plans to curtail newsprint production on Varkaus paper machine 2 (PM2) with temporary lay-offs until further notice due to weak market conditions. As a part of the plan, newsprint production at Varkaus would be concentrated on PM 4, improving its operating rates. The total number of employees affected by the co-determination negotiations concerning temporary lay-offs is around 90.

The plans are subject to co-determination negotiations with the employee representatives. Any decision on closures and other measures will be taken later when the co-determination negotiations concerning the units have been undertaken and concluded as required.

For further information, please contact:
Concerning Varkaus newsprint production curtailment: Reino Panula, Varkaus Mill
Manager, tel. +358 2046 32740
Concerning Corenso: Sampo Antti, Senior Vice President, Corenso Business Unit,
tel. +358 40 589 2409
Päivi Kauhanen, Director, Communications in Finland, tel. +358 2046 21292

The Annual General Meeting of Rottneros for 2009 resolved that the Nomination Committee, prior to the Annual General Meeting for 2010, should constitute the Chair of the Board, who shall not chair the Committee, together with two additional members, of whom one will represent the company's largest shareholder and the other represent one of the company's other four largest shareholders.

The AGM also resolved that if any of the shareholders who had appointed a member of the Nomination Committee ceases to be one of the five shareholders with the greatest voting power, the member(s) appointed by such shareholder(s) must tender their resignation and that a shareholder who has become one of the five shareholders with the greatest voting power shall be entitled to appoint its representative.

According to Euroclear's register, the five shareholders with the greatest voting power comprised, as of 29 January 2010, Nemus Holding, Case Asset Management, Danske Bank A/S, DnB NOR Bank ASA Sverige and HSH Nordbank. Torgny Prior, appointed by Prior&Nilsson Fond and Kapitalförvaltning AB, has therefore tendered his resignation. Case Asset Management has appointed as a new member Henrik Strömbom, CEO of Case Asset Management. Following this, the Nomination Committee comprises:

Olle Grundberg, Chair, Nemus Holding AB
Henrik Strömbom, Case Asset Management AB
Kjell Ormegard, Chair of the Board of Rottneros AB

The members of the Nomination Committee represent in aggregate just more than 25 per cent of the voting power of all shares in the company.

For more information, please contact:
Chair of the Nomination Committee, Olle Grundberg, mobile tel. no. +46 70 654 44 20
Chair of the Board, Kjell Ormegard, mobile tel. no. +46 70 668 93 76

Stora Enso has signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a EUR 65 million loan to be used for the Ostroleka power plant construction project in Poland. The loan agreement is part of the commitment by EIB to lend altogether EUR 230 million to Stora Enso for research and development and the Ostroleka power plant project.

"We have a long and good relationship with EIB and we are delighted that through this agreement EIB is supporting our power plant project to improve Ostroleka Mill's energy self-sufficiency and energy efficiency. Along with the Langerbrugge and Maxau energy investments, the Ostroleka power plant is one of our biggest cost improvement investments this year at our existing mills in Europe. The terms of the loan are very competitive," says Stora Enso CFO Markus Rauramo.

The Ostroleka power plant to be completed in the third quarter of 2010 will further improve the cost competitiveness of Stora Enso's operations in Poland. As announced on 3 November 2008, the total investment in the Ostroleka power plant is estimated at EUR 137 million.

For further information, please contact:
Jyrki Tammivuori, SVP, Group Treasurer, tel. +358 2046 21043
Ulla Paajanen-Sainio, Head of Investor Relations, tel. +358 2046 21242

Kemira's Board of Directors will submit the following proposals to the Annual General Meeting:

*Resolution on the use of the profit shown on the balance sheet and on dividends
*Remuneration and composition of the Board of Directors
*Remuneration and election of the auditor
*Share repurchase authorization
*Share issue authorization
*Donation to the Aalto University Foundation

The Annual General Meeting of Kemira Oyj will be held in the Marina Congress Center, Katajanokanlaituri 6, Helsinki, Finland on Tuesday, March 16, 2010, at 1.00 pm. The invitation will be published on February 22, 2010 in Helsingin Sanomat, Kauppalehti and on Kemira's website.

Read the full press release here....>

Kemira Group will publish its fourth quarter results on Tuesday, February 9 around 8.30 am Finnish time (6.30 am UK time).

Kemira will arrange a press conference for analysts and the media starting at 10.30am at Kemira House, Porkkalankatu 3, Helsinki. In the conference, Kemira's President and CEO Harri Kerminen will present the results. The press conference will be held in Finnish. Presentation material will be available on Kemira's website at www.kemira.com under Investors both in Finnish and in English at 10.30am.

A conference call in English will begin at 1 pm Finnish time. Inorder to participate in the call, please dial +44 (0)20 7162 0025, code856502 ten minutes before the conference begins. Presentation material will be available on Kemira's website. A recording of the conference call will be available on Kemira's website later the same day.

For further information please contact

Kemira Oyj

Päivi Antola, Senior Manager, IR and Financial Communications

Tel. +358 10 862 1140

The offical release here....>

The energy chain information can now be managed in real-time. Information that has been entered once will now serve the whole energy chain. The contracting parties' biomass and energy production IT systems will complement each other and allow easy and real-time management of the energy chain information – from tree plant to ashes and back to the forest in a controlled manner.

MHG Systems brings to the table its knowhow on the first part of the energy chain, i.e. managing biomass related field work and producing map and mobile services. Protacon completes the concept by offering energy companies, terminals, fuel suppliers, carriers, contractors, laboratories and authorities with tools to manage fuel related information. This joint service concept and modern technology will provide new best policies that will improve their customers' business operations.

The solution will promote even more environmentally-friendly energy production and it will also lead the way in decreasing the carbon footprint and improving the traceability of biofuel chains. The total carbon footprint can now be retrieved from a single system. According to international trends, the traceability of biofuels will soon apply to all energy production.

"MHG Systems' core competence lies in its in-depth experience on business models used in the international bioenergy and forest industries. The cooperation with MHG Systems will provide us with new distribution channels – especially to international markets", says the CTO of Protacon Ltd, Vesa Talvela.

"Protacon's expertise on optimising energy plant processes and supplying automation systems allows us to create a unique business model – to sell proven end-to-end solution to power plants and biofuel suppliers on a global scale", explains the Managing Director of MHG Systems, Seppo Huurinainen.

Managing Director Seppo Huurinainen, MHG Systems Ltd, +358 10 400 6280, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CTO Vesa Talvela, Protacon Ltd, +358 10 3472 640, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Established in 2005, MHG Systems Ltd is a Finnish IT service company who is also one of the world's leading providers of bioenergy ERP systems. The company utilises its partner network to produce IT and map service solutions designed for developing biomass-based business operations and improving various types of field work. Available now in 13 languages, the company's services bring about significant cost savings to all operators of the bioheat and bioelectricity production chain. www.mhgsystems.com