Nippon Paper Industries Co., Japan, this week announced that due to declining domestic demand for coated paper, it will shut down coating machine No.1 operating at Akita Mill (Akita City, Akita) and the coating machine No.2 operating at Ishinomaki Mill (Ishinomaki City, Miyagi), respectively, at the end of May 2018.

According to Nippon, domestic demand for printing paper is in structural decline, with the decrease in the number of children and the increasing availability of electronic media. In particular, coated paper has been recording negative 4% annual growth. Looking ahead, this trend is expected to continue. The company has therefore decided to shift the production of coated paper, which is manufactured using the two coating machines, to other mills to establish a more efficient production system based on consolidation. This will strengthen the company's competitiveness of its coated paper business.

Currently, the coating machine No.1 at Akita Mill and the coating machine No. 2 at Ishinomaki Mill manufacture coated woodfree paper.

Coating machine No. 1 at the Akita mill has a lightweight (woodfree) coated paper production capacity of 150,000 metric tpy. Coating machine No. 2 at the Ishinomaki mill has the capacity to produce 90,000 metric tpy of coated woodfree paper.