Aug 13, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. Several cut-downs are to be expected in the Nordic forest industry. Both Stora Enso, UPM and M-real have announced temporary cut-downs of production or permanent closures, Nordic Forest Owners Association reported. Increasing costs undermine forest industry's savings and general profitability of the branch is deteriorating. Therefore several companies give warnings about further reductions of production. At the publication of the UPM group's semi-annual report Mr. Jussi Pesonen, group CEO, said that despite UPM’s improved cost efficiency, high prices of timber and recycled paper, as well as considerably lower prices for sawn timber, undermine the group's financial result. Mr. Jouko Karvinen, CEO of Stora Enso, is of the same opinion. Increasing costs and weakening demand require drastic measures, such as temporary and permanent cut-downs of production capacity. Karvinen stresses, that reduced production is to be expected, irrespectively of future developments of the question concerning Russian export duties on raw timber. The situation is most worrisome in Finland, which is hardest hit by the export duties, but also Swedish industry is in trouble. The Utansjö plant was closed in early summer. One of the Hallstavik paper machines will also be run down and the number of employees will be reduced by more than 200 persons.