Georgia-Pacific Corp. announced it is closing two tissue machines, 13 converting lines, and associated tissue shipping assets at its Old Town, Maine, mill. The company will use its existing tissue paper capacity elsewhere to serve Old Town's consumer products customers.
The machines being retired currently produce approximately 89,000 tons of tissue paper a year. The mill's pulp operations and dryer are continuing to operate.
"This decision has nothing to do with the quality workforce at Old Town; they've done an outstanding job," said David Spraley, senior vice president - consumer products manufacturing. "However, the overcapacity of paper, the mill's geographic location, and energy and fiber costs make this decision necessary. Tissue customers will not be affected by the shutdown. Their orders will be shifted to other Georgia-Pacific tissue manufacturing operations."
The Old Town facility is a unit of Fort James Operating Company, a subsidiary of Georgia-Pacific.