Heinzel Group has made the decision to close its subsidiary due to persistently difficult market conditions and challenging economic circumstances This decision follows comprehensive discussions with the local works council resulting in a successfully concluded social plan More than half of the affected employees have already secured new employment. With the closure process now focused on the sale of assets, Heinzel Group is moving forward with the disposition of machinery and equipment stated: "We are encouraged by the rapid transition of many of our employees to new positions and are now concentrating on the sale of Raubling Papier's assets This includes a range of high-quality machinery and equipment Interested parties are invited to engage with us promptly as we navigate this phase." Heinzel Group has four production sites that produce market pulp Laakirchen and Steyrermühl in Austria; and Kunda Republication of Lesprom Network content is prohibited without the prior written consent of Lesprom Network General Terms and Conditions and Privacy policy Heinzel Group's Raubling paper mill will cease operations at the end of 2024 A company spokesperson told EUWID that a reconciliation of interests has now been reached with the works council This provides for the closure of Raubling Papier GmbH's operations on 31 December 2024 The management has already started to implement the closure and is preparing to sell all of the plant's machinery and equipment the Heinzel Group announced its intention to review the closure of the site due to a persistently difficult market environment and challenging economic conditions the company produces up to 240,000 tpy of containerboard on two paper machines and employs around 165 people Service Customer Service+49 7224 9397-701 servicenoSpam@GO-AWAYeuwid.de Editorial Team+49 7224 9397-0 papernoSpam@GO-AWAYeuwid.com Get the latest news about developments and trends in the industry sent to you once a week free of charge by newsletter Sign up for our newsletter We use cookies and external services on our website others enhance your user experience or help us improve this website You can change your privacy settings any time by clicking privacy policy Necessary cookies are required for the correct functioning of the website Content from video platforms and map services is blocked by default. If access to these services is accepted, separate consent is no longer required when using them. You can find more information on the individual external services in our privacy policy Austria's Heinzel Group mulls over closing its Raubling containerboard and kraft paper mill Raubling Papier in Germany The group decided to enter into talks with employee representatives on the potential closure of the Raubling plant citing "a persistently difficult market environment and challenging economic conditions." Austria’s family owned pulp and paper manufacturer Heinzel Group has revealed plans for the potential closure of the Raubling Papier corrugated case material (CCM) and kraft paper mill in Germany When publishing the financial results for 2024 in mid-April the company said that the permanent shutdown of operations at the Raubling plant was under review potentially affecting the mill’s 165 employees The situation of Heinzel Group subsidiary Raubling Papier in Germany in 2024 “continued to be characterized by a persistently difficult market environment and challenging economic conditions.” The company’s management therefore decided to enter into discussions with the local works council about a possible discontinuation of operations and develop socially responsible solutions for the mills staff The Heinzel Group financial result for 2023 already includes an impairment for the Raubling plant At the paper mill in Raubling in Germany’s southern federal state of Bavaria Heinzel Group runs two paper machines with a total production capacity of up to 240,000 tpy Heinzel had acquired the mill on 1 January 2016 from Mondi the mill was producing only CCM grades such as kraft-top liner reaching record production of 242,000 tpy in 2021 the Raubling Papier mill added kraft paper for shopping bags to its production portfolio in reaction to weak demand for corrugated case material The mill is producing 100 per cent recycled kraft paper as well as mixed recycled and primary fiber-based kraft paper The paper is sold under Heinzel’s Starkraft brand the Raubling mill produced approximately 181,000 t of corugated case material and kraft paper – a reduction of approximately 20,000 tcompared to 2022 – and had net sales of €98m (2022: €156m) the 2023 financial year was extremely challenging for Raubling Papier due to the general decline in demand for corrugated case materials and the significant drop in selling prices Even the specialization on niche products such as kraft paper for shoppers was unable to counteract this and the average net sales price achieved by Raubling Papier fell by around 32 per cent against the previous year the unfavourable forward pur-chase agreements for gas concluded in the prior year combined with the rising costs of recovered paper and pulp from the third quarter to negatively impacted earnings,” the group explained The company had a negative EBITDA of -€10.4m (-€6.9m) in 2023 and posted an EBIT loss of -€26.6m (-€10.4m) Operating cash flow was also negative with -€6.6m compared to -€1m in 2022 rumours about the potential closure of the Raubling Papier site in Germany have been doing rounds on the market for a while Content from video platforms and map services is blocked by default. 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