IP Lock Haven Mill Closing Sooner than Expected

Production of paper at International Paper Co.'s Hammermill plant in Lock Haven will end on March 18, two weeks earlier than previously announced.

The decision to move up the closure date is due to the continued slow demand for finished product and high inventory levels. Sheeting and cutting of paper will continue for a few weeks after the machines are shut down, she said.

IP announced plans to close the mill around 18 months ago, as well as two other mills, to reduce total uncoated paper production. Two of the five paper-making machines at Lock Haven were not on line at the time, and a third machine that produced colored paper was shut down last September.

The colored-paper operation was shifted to a mill in Franklin, Va. Production of technical-grade paper from the two machines to be shut down on March 18 will be transferred to a mill in Ticonderoga, N.Y.