Sappi Fine Paper North America, Boston, Mass., USA, will temporarily idle its Cloquet, Minn., paper mill later this month, the company announced Tuesday.

  

"Due to global market conditions, Sappi North America's Cloquet paper mill will be taking one week of downtime later in July," a company statement said. "The downtime will not have any impact on Sappi's ability to supply coated paper to our customers, as we have ample production flexibility to meet their needs."

WDIO-TV, Duluth, Minn., USA, reported that union leaders said the eight-day layoff will begin July 21 and affect 250 people. Sappi employs about 730 people in Cloquet, a small city on the eastern Minnesota border, according to the company website.

 

 

In an e-mail to employees posted on the United Steelworkers Local 1663 Facebook page, mill manager Mike Schultz said "much of this is brought on by the strength of the U.S. dollar, making it very attractive for global competitors to do business in the U.S."

As to the prospect of additional layoffs, Schultz wrote that "although this curtailment is expected to bring us back on our inventory curve, we can't project for certain what orders will be going forward. Our current order trend is not following historical references."

The Cloquet mill produces pulp for both its paper production and for a new cellulose product that can be made into rayon for the textiles industry. In addition to Cloquet, South African-based Sappi has mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook in Maine as well as additional North American offices in Atlanta, Ga., USA.

Last year, Sappi eliminated 110 salaried and hourly positions at its North American operations, 27 of which were positions at the Cloquet mill that were vacant at the time.