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Strong franc claims more jobs in paper industry

The Swiss paper manufacturing industry has been hit with more job losses, with the Cham Paper Group announcing drastic restructuring because of the strong Swiss franc.

The Zug-based group announced on Monday that 212 of 312 full time jobs would go from the start of 2012 and raw paper production would be phased out by the end of 2013.

Future activities will focus on producing specialised paper that result in higher profit margins. The group will also move production more to its two factories in northern Italy.

Cham Paper blamed the strong franc and general conditions in the sector for the losses.

In recent months hundreds of jobs have gone in the paper manufacturing sector, particularly in canton Solothurn, where the manufacturer Sappi let go of 550 people and Saber Swiss Quality Paper cut over a third of its 113 staff.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR