GNP Extends Machine Downtime

A two-week production curtailment involving half of the paper machines at Great Northern Paper Inc.'s Millinocket, Maine, mill will be extended for another week. The mill cited a sharp slowdown in demand for its finished products, as well as slumping prices, as reasons for extending its downtime.

According to local press reports, the company has not ruled out extending the downtime even further as it gauges market conditions as a prerequisite for re-starting the machines. The mills make coated and uncoated groundwood specialty paper.