FINLAND (News release) -- Operations in the areas unimpacted by the fire that broke out on May 7 at Valmet's Rautpohja factory in Jyväskylä, Finland, will start returning back to normal from the beginning of this week (week 21). It is believed that returning the operations back to normal in these areas will take approximately 1-2 weeks. Valmet is also evaluating the potential need to transfer certain operations to alternative locations mostly in Finland.

The fire did not impact the operations in Engineering, Foundry, Service Center and Pilot machine and the operations have continued in these parts without disruptions.

The official investigations by authorities are continuing in a limited factory area. The investigations are expected to be finalized within the coming weeks. The closure of fire-impacted workshop areas for the duration of the investigations is temporarily impacting the work of approximately 120 employees, which is around 5 percent of the total number of employees at the Rautpohja site. The employee impact of the fire has been mitigated with work re-arrangements, paid absence and holidays.

The impact assessment of the fire to the business continuity and customer deliveries is proceeding, and the final outcome will be known once the official investigations have been concluded and the full scale of the incident is clear.

"We are proceeding with our ramp up of operations and continuing to mitigate the business impact and co-operate with authorities in the root-cause investigations. We have been able to already deliver first products to our customers from the Rautpohja factory after the incident and our supplier network is operating normally again," says Jari Vähäpesola, President, Paper business line, Valmet.

Valmet's Rautpohja factory in Jyväskylä produces paper and board machines, pulp drying machine wet ends and special components. Valmet employs approximately 1,850 people at the Rautpohja site.