8 INDUSTRY NEWS


Tissue manufacturing in the UK gets bank support


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UK-based toilet and kitchen roll manufacturer could double its production


capacity after securing a £6 million (US$7.6m) funding package from HSBC UK. Leicester Tissue Company (LTC), which is currently operating at full capacity, is in the process of installing two new production lines that will be completed later this year at a new 105,000sqft plant at Thurmaston near Leicester. The investment will create an extra 50 full-time jobs. LTC currently produces 20,000


tonnes of tissue per year and supplies retailers that include Poundland, Aldi and Wilkinsons. With the installation of the new lines, LTC will have capacity to produce an extra 20,000 tonnes of tissue per year, enabling the business to respond to interest from other supermarket brands.


Leicester Tissue Company – investment for growth Managing director of LTC Ayaz


Tejani said: “As a manufacturer for some of the UK’s leading retail brands, it’s important that we regularly invest in new machinery to meet high consumer demands. We have a long-term vision for growth and these plans are


currently under way with the installation of the new production lines. “We’re incredibly grateful to our HSBC UK Relationship Director, Richard Parker, who understood our business and funding requirements. We look forward


to working closely with him again as the business grows.” LTC has grown rapidly since being set up in 2013 and now has sales of £20m (US$25.4m) a year, which could increase to £38m ($48.2m) following the expansion.


Capacity cut back at Stora Enso’s Imatra Mills


Stora Enso is planning to shut down its PM6 line at its Imatra Mills site in Finland by the end of 2019 as part of the company’s profit-protection programme. The decision in April to close


the line was the climax of co- determination negotiations in which 55 staff, rather than the 80 originally expected, will be made redundant. The reduction is the result of reorganising work in the departments that support production by PM6. Most of the impacts on personnel as a result of the layoffs can be managed


May/June 2019


through pension arrangements, said Stora Enso in a statement. Commenting on the decision


to close the line, mill director Mikko Nieminen said: “The decisions about closures are always difficult, but it is good that in most of the cases, the layoffs can be managed through pension arrangements. Even if we were closing one small paper machine, the personnel of the whole mill were part of the co-determination negotiations, which enabled this end result.” Stora Enso supports those


who are made redundant for production-related and financial reasons by providing extensive support, including the possibility of individual placement training. The group also works closely with local employment and economic development offices to help those who have been laid off. Stora Enso’s profit protection


programme is aimed at making cost savings of €120 million per year. Imatra Mills is part of Stora Enso’s Consumer Board


division and comprises two production units, Kaukopää and Tainionkoski, which together have an annual capacity of more than one million tonnes of paperboard and paper per year, including paperboard for packaging liquids and foods, as well as graphic paperboard, speciality papers, self- manufactured pulp and chemi- mechanical refiner pulp. After the closure of PM6,


Imatra Mills will have four carton paperboard machines and one paper machine.


Pulp Paper & Logistics


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