STRIKE AT PAPER GIANT RACHETS UP INDUSTRY SUPPLY TENSIONS
Workers at one of the world’s biggest papermaking businesses, UPM in Finland, have voted to extend their five week strike by another three weeks, with the strikes adding to ongoing tensions over supply for the local industry.
In addition AKT, the Finnish Transport Workers’ Union, which commenced a blockade against UPM to support the strikes of the Finnish Paperworkers’ Union, is now also going on strike from next Monday, stopping all paper from all mills leaving the country.
UPM is a huge producer of commercial, label and web offset papers, particularly lightweight coated (LWC) and mediumweight coated (MWC) publishing grades, along with its UPM Raflatac labelstock. Paper distributors around the world are telling printers to ensure they keep abreast of developments.
Staff at UPM in Finland have been on strike since the first day of the year, and will now stay out for at least another three weeks. In a positive move though talks between UPM and the union, which had broken down, with UPM saying it could not meet the union for talks under the conditions the workers want, are now likely to recommence this week, with UPM Pulp back at the negotiating table with the union yesterday.
The transport workers are going on strike from Valentine’s Day. They have already been refusing to handle any UPM stock, now they will not touch any paper from any mill. In addition, the electrician's union was refusing to allow any maintenance work at the UPM sites, in support of the paper workers.
Tony Bertrand, marketing manager at local merchant Ball & Doggett said, “The three week extension of the UPM workers strike certainly compounds the problem in various ways. Obviously the lack of supply from the mill but the additional pressure it places on other European manufacturers, when demand is already at very high levels.
“At Ball & Doggett, we are staying extremely close to all our key manufacturing partners around the globe, and will provide updates to our customers via our normal communication channels and our blog located on our website.”
Spicers does not supply UPM, but its managing director David Martin said that "while the strike has no impact to us, it is not a good situation for an already challenged supply chain though.”
Supply of printing papers and consumables has been constrained for the past 18 months, with shipping prices rocketing, and ships increasingly limited. So far Australian and New Zealand industry suppliers have been able to manage to ensure that print businesses here have been able to access supplies, although there are a plethora of stories of hardware sitting in overseas docks awaiting shipment here.
Heastet print giant Ovato has just warned that ongoing supply is becoming a bigger issue, telling the investment market that some customers may look elsewhere for their marketing communications if Ovato cannot keep guaranteeing supply of campaign materials.
UPM is one of the biggest two papermakers for the global print industry, along with Finnish rival Stora Enso, which closed two commercial grade mills last year, taking a million tonnes of paper a year out of production. UPM had sales of €9.85bn in 2021, with an EBIT of €1.48bn, Stora Enso's figures were slightly less, but of a similar magnitude.
Six UPM mills are impacted by the strikes:
- UPM Jämsänkoski (graphic papers including uncoated magazine paper and specialty papers)
- UPM Kymi (WFC and WFU graphic papers including Finesse and Fine)
- UPM Kaukas (LWC graphic papers including Ultra and Star)
- UPM Rauma (LWC magazine papers)
- UPM Tervasaari (specialty release liner base papers)
- UPM Raflatac Tampere (labels)