NewPage to Idle No. 12 Paper Machine at Rumford

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NewPage Holdings Inc., Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, reports that, based on current product demand, it has decided to indefinitely idle the No. 12 paper machine at its Rumford, Maine, mill by mid-February 2014. The No. 12 paper machine produces approximately 300 tons of coated paper per day used primarily for magazines, catalogs, and commercial printing applications.

"Specific operating plans, as well as timing and the number of jobs affected, are still being developed and will be implemented across the NewPage platform while satisfying customer commitments," stated Mark Lukacs, SVP of operations for NewPage. "We sincerely regret having to make this announcement because of the impact to our employees. We will be working with our Rumford management team to minimize the effects to our employees."

George Martin, president and CEO of NewPage, added that "we continue to operate in a weak commercial environment and needed to take action." As reported by the Pulp and Paper Products Council (PPPC), the North American coated paper market continues to be under pressure due to the continued year-over-year decline of coated shipments and significant increase in imports from Western Europe.

"We remain committed to running our operations in the most efficient manner possible as we balance our production to customer demand," added Lukacs. "Based on customer demand, this downtime is necessary to maintain that balance. Our flexible mill system enables us to fully service our customers' needs going forward. We will continue to consider the need for additional downtime as demand conditions unfold."

NewPage is a producer of printing and specialty papers in North America with $3.1 billion in net sales for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012. The company owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, with a total annual production capacity of approximately 3.5 million tons.

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