St. Marys Paper shuts down two machines

 

St. Marys Paper in Sault Ste. Marie has idled two of three paper machines and temporarily laid off 60 of its 300 workers.
The production reduction is expected to last one month.
The company makes supercalender paper used for magazines, catalogs and advertising flyers. The remaining machine handles the bulk of paper orders which are down and inventory is backing up.
St. Marys Paper is working toward building a co-generation plant and is filing an application with the Ontario Power Authority through the province's Request for Proposals process. The plan is to produce 100 megawatts of power from biomass.
Meanwhile across town, Algoma Tenaris Tubes has called back 175 workers to resume production after a six-week shutdown.
The seamless steel tube maker has been hurt by sliding oil prices for which the oil and gas exploration sector is its primary market.