Verso expected to lay off 300 employees at Jay mill

Two machines at the Verso Androscoggin mill will be shut down in the fourth quarter of this year, resulting in the permanent elimination of approximately 300 jobs.

Verso’s decision to reduce its production capacity was driven by several factors. The currency situation has resulted in more foreign imports from Asia, Europe and Canada and decreased U.S. exports, the company said.

Verso Corp., the Tennessee-based paper producer that acquired NewPage Holdings Inc.in January, plans to make “major reductions” in its coated paper and pulp production, company officials announced Thursday.

Verso will also be idling a coated paper mill in Wickliffe, Kentucky.

Before completion of the merger, Verso shuttered its Bucksport mill, reducing its capacity for coated groundwood paper and laying off about 500 employees.

Approximately 301 layoffs are expected at the Kentucky mill.

Verso Corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., made the announcement in a statement released this morning. Verso does not have sufficient information at this time to estimate the cash costs and noncash charges resulting from the optimization of the Androscoggin mill’s pulp, power and recovery assets.

“[These decisions] are especially hard for the employees and their families who are directly affected by these actions”, Paterson said. A year ago, the company’s stock was trading at about $3.15.

The company’s human resources department soon will be meeting with affected workers.

Local officials denied a second property tax abatement request from Verso in April, saying the mill failed to prove it deserved a $193.8 million reduction in the value of its mill, according to the Sun Journal.