HELSINKI (AP) -- The world's largest magazine paper maker UPM-Kymmene Corp. said Monday it will temporarily lay off 1,220 workers in Finland, as the economic downturn continues to hit the wood and paper industry.
Most of the layoffs will be in the plywood and sawn timber sections of the Finnish company's operations at several mills in southern Finland. Paper and pulp production also will be affected, UPM said.
The announcement follows UPM's earnings report last week which saw it swing into a fourth-quarter net loss of euro286 million ($267 million) and an 8 percent drop in sales to euro2.3 billion.
The company gave a grim outlook for the rest of the year, saying it will continue to close mills and curtail production, expecting poor demand to continue in 2009.
UPM's share price fell more than 1.5 percent to euro7.49 ($9.58) in morning trading in Helsinki.
Last year, UPM closed mills in Finland and slashed 700 jobs. It also announced plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide during the next few years.
UPM-Kymmene has production plants in 14 countries with 170 sales and distribution companies worldwide. It employs 26,400 people -- down from 30,000 a year ago.