January 14, 2022

Dear Valued Customer,
 
The Finnish Paperworkers’ Union has initiated a prolonged strike at UPM which affects UPM Pulp as well as UPM Specialty Papers. This strike is affecting production at all of UPM’s pulp and paper mills in Finland. The strike started January 1st and UPM informed us on 3 January 2022 that they considered this strike to be a “force majeure” event. The Union originally announced that the strike would continue until January 22 but then recently announced an extension to February 5, 2022 unless an agreement with UPM is reached prior to that date. 
 
The strike is now expected to cause limited availability during the coming months of UPM paper grades such as glassine, vellum, coated paper and CCK, as well as specialty papers.  Despite our broad network of paper producers and our actions taken to build inventory and secure additional supplies, it may not be possible to secure enough materials from other suppliers on such short notice. This is now expected to have a direct impact on our production and delivery of specific products.
 
We are currently in the process of analysing the details of the impact of UPM’s strike situation on our production, and we will inform you about the consequences for your deliveries as soon as possible.

This situation, together with other supply constraints and continued unprecedented inflation in the price of raw materials, may potentially force us to take additional measures, including:

• Reviewing and rescheduling confirmed orders
• Reviewing and rescheduling new orders based on material availability

Also, we are unable to move confirmed orders to an earlier delivery date until further notice.

Please know we are working diligently to mitigate this situation, which is beyond our control. Additionally, we will continue leveraging our scale, global reach and supplier relationships to manage these challenges.

If you have questions or need assistance, please reach out to your Avery Dennison representative.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We greatly appreciate your business and value our partnership. 

Sincerely,