NewPage Corp. said a total of 660 jobs will be cut nationwide as it integrates the North American operations of Finland-based Stora Enso Oyj that it bought for about $2.1 billion last September. NewPage acquired eight factories in the deal.
Most of the cuts will be in Wisconsin where NewPage will close a pulp mill and paper machines in Niagara and Kimberly, eliminating about 440 jobs. NewPage also will close an operation in Chillicothe, Ohio, that employs about 160 workers.
NewPage, owned by private equity firm Cerberus Capital, has said the deal with Stora Enso will give it a boost in the shrinking U.S. paper industry that it claims has been hurt by Chinese imports and increasing use of the Internet.
Despite the reductions, NewPage said North American production will go up 3 percent to 8 percent in 2008 compared with 2007.
NewPage bills itself as the largest printing paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity.
It also owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Nova Scotia.
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