UPM-Kymmene (UK) head of sustainable development John Sanderson said the firm had been working towards a certified product at the Ayrshire plant for some time.

Sanderson said the mill was currently putting the necessary policies and procedures in place, and would go through a chain-of-custody pre-audit assessment with an independent auditor early next year.

Production quality would be based on customers requirements, which Sanderson envisaged would include production for both Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Pan-European Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes.

The Finnish producer issued its results for the first nine months of 2002 to 30 September, which showed a rise in turnover coupled with a fall in operating profits, due to lower prices for newsprint and magazine papers.

Turnover rose 7% to 4.9bn (EUR7.8bn), while operating profits were down by 17% to 560m on the same period last year.

Profits before extraordinary items fell by 20% to 433m, while sales of magazine paper saw a slight rise to 1.6bn for the period.

Sales for newsprint were up 34% for the period to 651m, with deliveries also up by 52% at 1.8bn tonnes.

Fine and speciality paper sales amounted to 1.1bn, a rise of 3% on last years figures, with both demand and deliveries remaining strong.

Story by Andy Scott

Picture: UPM - certified production