NewPage Port Hawkesbury mill to take downtime

Aug. 23, 2011, Miamisburg, OH – NewPage
Corporation has announced that it will be taking downtime on both paper
machines at its Port Hawkesbury mill in Nova Scotia. The decision was based on
the company’s assessment of current market and economic conditions. The
downtime will begin September 10 for the mill's PM1 newsprint machine and
September 16 for the PM2 supercalendered machine. NewPage will provide future updates
on the mill based on an ongoing review of the situation and economic conditions
during the anticipated downtime.

The decision was based on a combination of
factors, including unfavourable exchange rates between the U.S. and Canadian
dollars and high utility and shipping costs, which have rendered its Port
Hawkesbury mill operations unprofitable for more than a year.

The company is announcing its decision now
to mitigate the potential impact on customers and already has taken into
consideration the planned downtime for future scheduling. NewPage expects to
fulfill certain pre-existing orders for its supercalendered papers from its
mill in Duluth, Minnesota, but does not produce newsprint from any other mill
location and therefore will be unable to serve these customers during the
downtime.

There has been no mention of what this means for the planned biomass power production at the mill.

See also:

Port Hawkesbury mayor says town needs help,
by CBC News

Mayor calls Port Hawkesbury mill closure an
economic disaster, by Nancy King | Daily Business Buzz
Company announces indefinite shutdown at
Nova Scotia paper mill, citing costs, by Michael MacDonald | The Record