November 01, 2012 - 1:40 PM
HANTSPORT, N.S. - A paper mill in Nova Scotia has announced it will shut down next month and throw 135 workers out of a job, saying it is succumbing to the same competitive pressures that plague most plants in the industry.
A letter to employees posted on the website of Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Ltd. says it hoped a restructuring of operations last year and changes to pricing would make the Hantsport plant sustainable.
But the company says challenges in the marketplace, competition from plants using newer and more efficient technology, and rising operational costs are too difficult to overcome.
It says 135 people will lose their jobs, though upwards of 40 employees will be moved to other companies within Scotia Investments Ltd., an investment holding company.
The letter says the company is not seeking any government assistance.
Minas Basin Pulp and Power, a producer of recycled paperboard products, was founded in 1927.
The news comes a little more than a month after the former NewPage Port Hawkesbury paper mill in Point Tupper, N.S., resumed operations after a year-long closure.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012