Wednesday, February 28, 2001

The Natchez Democrat

For the second time in the past month, International Paper

will temporarily shut down the No. 2 unit at its Natchez mill.

The outage begins Friday and will last until March 11.

During the nine-day shutdown, the mill will continue to run

its No. 1 unit at normal operational rates. Both units produce

dissolving hardwood pulp.

&uot;We continue to experience weak markets, high energy costs

and rising finished pulp inventories, which make it necessary

to scale back our operation temporarily,&uot; mill Manager Steve

Olsen said in a statement.

&uot;We are encouraging affected employees to take vacation

and personal holidays.&uot;

The No. 2 unit was also shut down Feb. 18-25, also because

of market conditions and energy costs.

At that time, about 70 to 80 employees were affected. It was

unclear how many employees would be affected by the upcoming shutdown.

The mill, with about 750 workers, is Adams County’s largest

employer.

Last summer, IP officials announced plans to put the mill on

the market. The company is divesting itself of the chemical cellulose

division, the bulk of which is at the Natchez mill. No plans for

a buyer have been announced.

The dissolving pulp made in Natchez ends up in photo film,

rayon, cellophane, ethers, acetate yarns and other products.