At a Board meeting on 27 August 2012, Södra Cell, which owns Södra Cell Folla, took the decision to divest the mill at Follafoss. The Södra Cell Folla management has been given the task of creating a divestment plan for Södra's ownership of the mill.
The Follafoss mill produces CTMP (chemithermomechanical pulp) which has a variety of uses including the manufacture of paperboard and tissue. Södra Cell is planning to leave the CTMP market from 1 November 2012.
"We've been struggling to create profitability in CTMP for several years. In spite of all the measures we've taken, we've found it increasingly difficult to find a profitable market for what we produce," explained Gunilla Saltin, President of Södra Cell.
Södra has used considerable resources to reverse the negative trend, including energy efficiency improvements, product development and cutting the workforce.
"We've been trying for a long time to find a solution to make operating the mill profitable but we now have to accept that previous conditions for profitable CTMP production at Follafoss no longer exist. We deeply regret that this is the case," said Saltin.
"The flexibility and creativity of Folla's employees have kept quality and productivity at a high level and they've fought valiantly to keep production costs low," she added.
The Folla mill produced 83,500 tonnes of pulp in 2011. Average annual production has been 107,000 tonnes. There are currently 51 employees at the mill. If it closes, a career transition process will be initiated that will include all employees.
