A.P.P.M. to close three mills

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33791, 13 March 1975, Page 21

A.P.P.M. to close three mills

(New Zealand Press Association —Copyright) SYDNEY. Associated Pulp and Paper Mills, Ltd, is shutting its three main paper mills for a fortnight later this month, because of a continuing low level of paper orders.

The company, which is; Australia’s major, manufacturer of fine writing and printing papers, is seeking the imposition of quotas on ; imports of fine papers. The two week shut-down will reduce A.P.P.M.’s already restricted paper out- ! put by about 8500 tonnes. The mills affected are Burnie and Wesley Vale, in , Tasmania, and Shoalhaven in New South Wales. The total . workforce at the three mills is 3720. Employees will take part , of their annual leave during the shut-down which will include Easter. A.P.P.M. reduced its an- ( nual production rate of the fine writing, and printing papers by about 15,000 i tonnes last December by i shutting down its No 3 i machine at Burnie, and dismissing 150 workers. b A spokesman for the com-!; pany said that, since Christmas, orders had been running well below the already I

reduced level of manufacturing capacity. Large warehouse stocks were held, and it was necessary to reduce mill output. In its half-yearly report the company said that the group net profit fell 9.3 per cent to $3.2m, and that group actitivites, and profits Were expected to suffer in the last half-year. It said that the fine paper market seemed unlikely to improve before June, be-, cause of the high level of merchant and user stocks, the low level of purchasers’ liquidity, and the generally depressed state of the economy. The present cutbacks and depressed demand contrast sharply with the 1973-74 conditions when A.P.P.M.’s sales of paper to purchases ’outside the group rose 15.7; per cent to a record 220,566 tonnes, and its group net; profit jumped 80 per cent, to! $7,4m.