Miamisburg, Ohio, USA 19 November 2013 -- /PRNewswire/ -- NewPage Holdings Inc. ("NewPage") today announced that, based on current product demand, it has decided to indefinitely idle the No. 12 paper machine at the Rumford, Maine mill by mid-February 2014.  The No. 12 paper machine manufactures approximately 300 tons of coated paper per day used primarily for magazines, catalogs and commercial printing applications.

"Specific operating plans, as well as timing and the number of jobs affected, are still being developed and will be implemented across the NewPage platform while satisfying customer commitments," stated Mark Lukacs, senior vice president of operations for NewPage.  "We sincerely regret having to make this announcement because of the impact to our employees.  We will be working with our Rumford management team to minimize the effects to our employees." 

"We continue to operate in a weak commercial environment and needed to take action," said George Martin, president and chief executive officer for NewPage.  As reported by the Pulp and Paper Products Council or PPPC, North American coated paper market continues to be under pressure due to the continued year-over-year decline of coated shipments and significant increase in imports from Western Europe.

"We remain committed to running our operations in the most efficient manner possible as we balance our production to customer demand," added Lukacs.  "Based on customer demand, this downtime is necessary to maintain that balance.  Our flexible mill system enables us to fully service our customers' needs going forward.  We will continue to consider the need for additional downtime as demand conditions unfold."

To learn more about NewPage, visit www.NewPageCorp.com.

About NewPage

NewPage is a leading producer of printing and specialty papers in North America with $3.1 billion in net sales for the year ended December 31, 2012. NewPage is headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, and owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. These mills have a total annual production capacity of approximately 3.5 million tons of paper.

The company's portfolio of paper products includes coated, supercalendered and specialty papers. These papers are used in commercial printing to create corporate collateral, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts and direct mail as well as in specialty paper applications including beverage bottle labels, food and medical packaging, pressure-sensitive labels and release liners.To learn more, visit www.NewPageCorp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All statements other than statements of historical fact are "forward-looking statements" for purposes of federal and state securities laws. The company does not intend, and undertakes no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements.