Domtar Corporation provided an update to its previously announced capacity reduction plan, which is designed to temporarily right-size production capacity in light of the business conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Domtar plans to temporarily idle the operations of its Hawesville, Kentucky, mill beginning May 5th 2020. The company expects to restart the H1 paper machine in June 2020, while the H2 paper machine will remain idled until July 2020. The temporary shutdown will reduce Domtar’s uncoated freesheet paper production capacity by approximately 83,000 short tons. As a result of the shutdown, Domtar will temporarily lay off approximately 400 employees at the Hawesville mill.
This incremental action follows Domtar’s idling of its Kingsport, Tennessee, mill and the A62 paper machine at its Ashdown, Arkansas mill. Combined, the temporary shutdowns will reduce production capacity by approximately 227,000 short tons of uncoated freesheet paper. The Company anticipates inventory to be at appropriate levels after this downtime.
Beyond these temporary shutdowns, all of Domtar’s other facilities remain fully operational and shipments continue to proceed without disruption.