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Paperlinx is to abandon paper manufacturing, closing its Tasmanian Wesley Vale operation and part of its Burnie operation in Australia, as part of an ongoing process to cut costs.
On completion of the plans, Paperlinx will be solely a merchanting company, distributing paper, sign and display and graphics materials, as well as packaging products.
The move will result in 252 Australian job cuts across the two mills over the coming months.
A sale of the remaining operations at Burnie is an alternative to complete closure, and 170 jobs will be maintained pending the outcome of the sale.
It is expected that the closure of the two mills will be completed by June 2010 and will cost the company about AUS$170m (£95m).
Tom Park, Paperlinx managing director, said: "While this was a difficult decision to make, it provides greater certainty for all our stakeholders and removes one of the key uncertainties that has been overhanging the company and its employees."
He said the operations at Bernie and Wesley Vale are together "substantially loss-making" and this level of loss, along with the current high Australian exchange rate and the business configuration, was unsustainable.(Gold Printing China) |
