Business
Neenah Paper to Further Consolidate Fine Paper Operations
Neenah Paper to Further Consolidate Fine Paper Operations.
About this update from Northpalm Capital Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nALPHARETTA, Ga., June 13 /CNW/ -- Neenah Paper (NYSE: NP) today announced\nplans to permanently close its fine paper mill located in Urbana, Ohio. The\nmill, with capacity of approximately 39,000 tons per year, was acquired by the\ncompany with the purchase of Fox River Paper in March 2007. Operations at the\nmill will be phased out in an orderly manner over the next twelve months. With\nthe shutdown of the Urbana mill and the previous closure of the Housatonic,\nMassachusetts mill, the company is maximizing cost efficiencies by shifting\nfine paper manufacturing to utilize existing available capacity at the\ncompany's other high quality mills.\n\n\n"This decision follows a thorough analysis of how best to optimize our\nmanufacturing footprint following the Fox River purchase. Closing the Urbana\nmill allows us further to improve costs and margins and the timeline will\nensure we seamlessly continue to serve the needs of our customers," said Sean\nErwin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We realize this will result in\nhardship for our employees at Urbana and their local community and will be\nworking to assist them through this difficult transition."\n\n\nThe company said it expected to incur one-time cash costs of\napproximately four million dollars for severances and other charges related to\nthe Urbana closure and that savings would be realized through the elimination\nof fixed costs at the site.\n\n\nAbout Neenah Paper, Inc.\n\n\nNeenah Paper manufactures and distributes a wide range of premium and\nspecialty paper grades, with well-known brands such as CLASSIC(R),\nENVIRONMENT(R), STARWHITE(R), ESSE(R), KIMDURA(R) and MUNISING LP(R),\nGessner(R) and varitess(R). The company also produces and sells bleached pulp,\nprimarily for use in the manufacture of tissue and writing papers. Neenah\nPaper is based in Alpharetta, Georgia, and has paper manufacturing operations\nin the United States and Germany, and a pulp mill and related timberlands in\nNova Scotia, Canada. Additional information about Neenah Paper can be found at\nthe company's web site at www.neenah.com.\n\n\nCautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements\n\n\nCertain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking"\nstatements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 (the\n"Securit...