Ruukki Metals is to initiate employer-employee negotiations concerning the efficiency of its operations. The negotiations affect most of Ruukki Metals’ production organization in Finland, which means a total of around 3,500 persons. The Raahe Works and Hämeenlinna Works are the largest units affected by these negotiations. An estimated maximum of 230 persons in all, of which 160 are workers and 70 salaried employees, are affected by the need for redundancies. In addition, employer-employee negotiations concerning lay-offs of the entire personnel will be initiated at the Kankaanpää and Pulkkila sites in Finland.

Also employer-employee negotiations will be initiated in the Marketing and Communications function in pursuit of improved operating efficiency. The negotiations affect around 70 persons in Ruukki countries. An estimated maximum of 20 people in all will be affected by the need for redundancies.

The negotiations now being initiated are part of Ruukki’s projects launched this year to improve the company’s competitiveness. The projects in the steel and construction businesses seek to achieve a total permanent annualised improvement of EUR 100 million in earnings performance and profitable business also when production is running at 80 per cent, which is low for the steel industry.

"The flexibility and savings now being sought are important for the competitiveness of our business and we have worked with the personnel to identify ways to improve efficiency. In addition to improving ways of working, our efficiency improvement targets also regrettably require redundancies. Our aim is to improve our long-term competitiveness, which requires a permanently lower cost level, in addition to the challenges already referred to earlier. On top of this, the Sulphur Directive, for example, threatens to increase future transportation costs within our steel production," explains Olavi Huhtala, Executive Vice President of Ruukki Metals.

The negotiations seek savings totalling around € 10 million in annual costs and it is estimated that the cost cuts will be achieved in full during the second and third quarters of 2013. Efforts will be made to carry out some of the redundancies through retirement and by deployment.

In addition to the efficiency improvement programmes underway, studies will be initiated to improve efficiency also in corporate administration. The study affects all administrative functions that serve the whole of Ruukki or its divisions.