Swedish paper company to shut four of five mills

UK publishing industry figures have expressed concern that the current paper crisis will worsen as Swedish paper company Stora-Enso moves to divest four of its five paper mills, reports the Bookseller.

Stora-Enso is divesting from Anjala in Finland, Hylte and Nymölla in Sweden and Maxau in Germany. Publishers said paper traditionally used for mono-printing, which includes adult fiction and nonfiction, is most likely to be affected by stock shortages.

Canongate production and systems director Caroline Gorham described Stora-Enso’s move as ‘very worrying’, especially ‘in the light of the volumes [of paper] the UK market [has] required over the last couple of years and the significant price hike we have already taken in the first quarter on all papers’.

Nosy Crow head of operations Karina Stevens said she is concerned about the effects of paper shortages on the global market and the likelihood of prices increasing, despite sourcing paper for Nosy Crow’s children’s books from a different supplier.

‘There are fewer and fewer mills,’ Stevens said. ‘Pulp is being funnelled into making other products, which is just driving down the amount of raw material that is available to be made into paper—it’s been declining year on year.

‘[This is] an extension of ongoing issues with the shrinking graphic paper market—with this happening, when you take four factories out, you massively reduce the capacity of the whole paper market.’

A Stora-Enso spokesperson told the Bookseller that paper is ‘not a strategic growth area for the group’, which is instead pivoting to investment in sustainable materials and developing renewable packaging and new biomaterials.

Category: International news