Apr 20, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. The local negotiations under the Swedish Co-Determination Act (MBL) between Setra’s management group and union representatives regarding closure of Lövholmen sawmill in Piteå were completed on April, 15 without agreement being reached, as the company informed Lesprom Network. In order to reduce the losses at the company’s units in northern Sweden, in November 2008 Setra decided to reduce production of sawn timber by closing one of the sawmills in the region, either Lövholmen sawmill in Piteå or Malå sawmill. Following an in-depth analysis of these two alternatives, in February 2009 Setra’s Board of Directors decided to complete these negotiations with the intention of closing Lövholmen sawmill. As part of the MBL process a wage-earner consultant’s report was prepared. The report was recently presented to the trade unions and the company. “The wage-earner consultant’s report largely concurs with the company’s analysis of the situation, but reaches different conclusions, says Kent Torwald, President and CEO of Setra. The wage-earner consultant would rather see all the sawmills in the north being retained, but operated with fewer shifts. Our calculations, however, clearly show that this solution would provide significantly less favourable competitiveness than production with full capacity at the remaining units.” Since the negotiations ended in disagreement, Setra is now awaiting notification from the trade unions that they intend to proceed to central negotiations before the process of closing the sawmill begins. The plan is to cease sawing at the end of the first half of the year. Setra Lövholmen has approximately 60 employees. Setra, Sweden’s largest wood products company, offers wood-based products and solutions to the building materials trade and industrial customers.