IP anticipates no local impact from Finnish lockout action

BUCKSPORT – International Paper Co. said Thursday it does not anticipate any effect on its Bucksport mill from the planned four-week lockout of workers at mills in Finland.

The lockout began Wednesday as contract talks between union workers and Finland’s paper industry broke down. The lockout comes on the heels of scattered union-led strikes that have sporadically shut down that nation’s paper mills in recent weeks.

It has stopped operations at about 50 pulp and paper board mills throughout the country, including those owned by some of the world’s largest paper makers, UPM-Kymmene Corp. and Stora Enso Oyj.

The lockout did not come as a surprise, but it originally had been intended to be a two-week lockout. Employers announced it would be expanded to four weeks after Tuesday’s round of talks ended in deadlock.

Industry analysts have speculated that the loss of Finnish production – which accounts for about 15 percent of the world’s paper production – could result in a rise in paper prices.

“Right now it’s a little early to tell, but we’re not projecting anything at this point,” IP spokesman Bill Cohen said. “So much of what we do here is long term with long-standing clients. In the short term, we don’t see any effect. It could affect the market if it goes on for a while.”

UPM-Kymmene is an IP competitor and in 2000 made an initial bid to acquire the former Champion International Corp., whose assets then included the Bucksport mill. That offer sparked a brief bidding war, which saw IP outbid the Finnish company and eventually purchase Champion.