Cascades Inc. announced that the second paper machine at its St. Helens, Oregon, tissue mill will be closed, resulting in the complete shutdown of the facility. The end of operations will be effective at the beginning of October.
The decision follows the company's previously announced repositioning of its tissue papers production platform to improve business performance, which included the closure of one of the two paper machines at the St. Helens plant.
According to Cascades, the closure further simplifies the company's operational platform by concentrating the majority of its tissue product operating activities at core, geographically well-positioned sites that offer opportunities for future development.
"Over the past few months, market conditions on the West Coast and a significant decline in demand in this region for brown recycled products specifically manufactured at the facility have compromised the long-term financial viability of the plant," said Jean-David Tardif, President and Chief Operating Officer of Cascades Tissue Group. "Consequently, we made the decision to end the plant's operations."
The annual capacity of the machine is 50,000 short tons of brown 100% recycled tissue paper. These tons are not integrated into the Cascades network, so the closure will have no impact on the company's other operations.
Cascades said it will work closely with the 75 employees affected to reduce the impact of this announcement and will attempt to relocate those who wish to its other business units in the U.S. Those who cannot or do not want to be reassigned to other facilities will be supported in their job search.
TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/