Twenty-one of 23 workers laid off last fall by International Paper’s Natchez Mill will head back to work this week, and the other two went back to work two weeks ago, a mill official confirmed Monday.

Having those workers back in place should boost the efficiency of processes throughout the mill, said Communications Director Lillie DeShields.

&uot;To speed the processes up, we need more people,&uot; she said.

The workers are being placed where they are needed the most, DeShields said. With laid-off employees now back on the job, the mill now employs 766.

Human Resources Director Luther Dangerfield announced earlier this month that the laid-off workers would be recalled and go back to work just after the shutdown.

The mill, which produces dissolving wood pulp, started its annual maintenance shutdown March 20, and different parts of the plant are starting up again at various times this week. All parts of the mill will be back online Thursday.

The recalled workers account for 23 of 94 positions the mill eliminated last fall due to poor market conditions.

The other 71 positions were eliminated through voluntary retirement and severance.

IP is a global forest products, paper and packaging company that distributes wood pulp, lumber, panels, photosensitive films, chemicals and nonwoven products.

For the nine months that ended Sept. 30, the company’s revenues rose 2 percent to $18.28 billion. Net income fell 41 percent to $119 million. For the three months that ended Dec. 31, revenues were estimated at $6.3 million.

Details of the 1999 annual report IP filed Monday were not available as of press time.