Newpage to cut production, close Niagara mill in July

By Joel Dresang
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Citing the effects of economic uncertainty on its customers, papermaker NewPage Corp. said today that it has scheduled downtime in the next couple of months for several of its machines as well as the permanent closing July 12 of its mill in Niagara.

NewPage had earlier planned to close the Niagara mill this fall, extending an initial deadline to shut down the plant in April. But the company said that changing market conditions have moved the closing up again.

Ohio-based NewPage is the continent’s leading maker of coated paper used in printing catalogs and magazines.

“We have been observing an increase in coated paper inventories at a number of printers, along with a slowdown in demand as advertisers deal with an uncertain economy,” Rick Willett, NewPage president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Since we are committed to balance our production to consumption, we are diligently taking steps to reduce our production over the next two months.”

NewPage acquired the former Stora Enso North America operations, based in Wisconsin Rapids, in December, and in January announced consolidation plans that included closing the Niagara mill, with 319 employees, and a machine in Kimberly employing about 125.