(Bloomberg) --
The shares of Finnish paper and pulp companies fell on Monday after workers started a three-week strike that's set to paralyze the entire industry.
More than 17,000 workers are taking part in the protest after talks over wages broke down. The strike shuts more than 50 paper, paperboard and pulp mills and stops production at more than 40 sawmills and plywood plants, according to the Finnish Forest Industries.
The shares of Metsa Board Oyj slumped as much as 8.3% in Helsinki, the most since August. Stora Enso Oyj fell 4.6% and UPM-Kymmene Oyj retreated 3.4%, while the OMX Helsinki 25 Index dropped as much as 2.2%. Separately, analysts at OP Corporate Bank downgraded their ratings on Stora Enso and UPM-Kymmene to sell and reduce, respectively.
“The strikes could, at worst, have a significant negative impact on the first-quarter results of all forestry companies listed on the Helsinki stock exchange,” Antti Viljakainen, an analyst at Inderes, wrote in a note to clients.
The employer organization plans a three-day lockout of workers at 12 production units from Feb. 10 unless a deal is reached by then. Mediation of the dispute is slated to continue on Tuesday.
Read Also: Finnish Minister Intervenes to Postpone Chemical Industry Strike
To contact the reporter on this story: Leo Laikola in Helsinki at llaikola@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kati Pohjanpalo at kpohjanpalo@bloomberg.net, Hanna Hoikkala
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