HeidelbergCement-owned Kunda Nordic Tsement, Estonia, is to close its kiln line in March following a decision by the company’s supervisory board.

The closure has been attributed to the considerable increase in CO2 prices, which has had a significant impact on financial results.

"We have reached a crossroads in Kunda, where a new dry-processing plant is needed to reduce the cost of production of clinker and meet the increasingly stringent environmental requirements that stakeholders expect of us. As the production volume is relatively small, such an investment is not profitable," said Meelis Einstein, managing director of the company.

Kunda Nordic Cement will continue operations as a grinding plant with imported clinker. This is expected to reduce the carbon footprint by around 30 per cent.

The closure of the kiln line will result in the redundancy of some 80 employees. "For our part, we are making every effort to ensure that the entire process is carried out responsibly and that all workers made redundant return to the labour market as quickly as possible," Mr Einstein said. To ensure that, the company is launching cooperation with the Unemployment Insurance Fund.