Smurfit Kappa, Europe’s largest containerboard maker, plans to end production at its Sturovo mill in Slovakia due to excess capacity in the industry and cheaper rival production methods.

The mill has a capacity of 200,000 tons of semi- chemical fluting, which along with containerboard is used to make corrugated cardboard boxes, and employs 350 people, Dublin-based Smurfit Kappa said in a statement yesterday.

A combination of cheaper fluting, currency movements and government aid for new capacity in central and eastern Europe made the mill “unviable”, Smurfit Kappa said. – (Bloomberg)