PORT ANGELES — An official at Nippon Paper Industries USA’s paper mill in Port Angeles this evening announced the curtailment of one of the company’s two paper machines effective Friday.
“Restart of the paper machine will occur when the economic conditions improve enough to justify resumption of operations,” mill Manager Steve Johnson said in a 5:02 p.m. email to the Peninsula Daily News.
No restart date has been scheduled, he said.
Johnson did not say how many people would be affected by the curtailment in operations.
“The curtailment is necessary to balance capacity with the current economic climate and slow sales of uncoated mechanical papers,” Johnson said.
Employees at the Ediz Hook mill were informed of the reduction in operations late this afternoon, Johnson said.
“The pulp mill’s No. 3 paper machine, cogeneration plant and other supporting operations will remain in full operation during this period,” he said.
Company officials are working closely with the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers and city officials “to identify and minimize impacts of this curtailment,” Johnson said.
In recent weeks, Johnson has not returned repeated calls for comment from Peninsula Daily News on the mill’s operations.
“I will not be providing any more information or comments than what is contained within this announcement as our competitors use the PDN as a source of intelligence for their strategy,” Johnson said in an email that accompanied the announcement.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
