HAMBURG, GERMANY—  Feldmüehle a major player in the German label and packaging markets. It gave up making graphic papers to concentrate on the more buoyant packaging and labeling sectors. Feldmühle ships annually some 80,000 tons of label and flexible packaging papers to 90 countries worldwide, and it describes itself as the world’s leading producer of non-adhesive label papers. But in June the company announced that it had been “adversely and unforeseeably affected” by unexpectedly increased energy costs and raw material prices  and had applied to enter into receivership. In 2018 Feldmühle underwent a similar process twice, during which it halved its workforce to 200 and shut down its second paper machine. In 2023 International Paper permanently close its containerboard mill in Orange, Texas and cease production on two of its pulp machines at other sites, reducing capacity by approximately 800,000 tonnes. In May of this year Smurfit Westrock to close 4 facilities, shrink by more than 500,000 tons, coupled with the recent actions in Mexico and the Netherlands, totals nearly 600,000 tons. Announcements about paper mill shutdowns has become a regular  occurrence with Stora Enso, Canford, Island Papers , Arjowiggins, UPM, International Paper and Domtar have announced mill or machine shut downs in the last several years.