NewPage to Take 150,000 Tons Of Downtime


Miamisburg, Ohio, USA, 09 January 2009 – NewPage Corporation today announced that it plans to take approximately 150,000 tons of market-related downtime during the first quarter of 2009. Specific operating and curtailment plans and timing will be developed across NewPage mills to best satisfy customer commitments.

“We continue to operate in a very challenging economy and marketplace. In 2009, we will maintain our strong commitment to run our operations in the most efficient way possible as we balance our production to consumption,” said Rick Willett, president and chief operating officer for NewPage. “Based on our estimates of market demand and inventory levels, this downtime is needed to help maintain that balance. Fortunately, our flexible system enables us to fully service our customers’ needs during periods of curtailment."

Headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, NewPage Corporation (www.newpagecorp.com) is the largest coated paper manufacturer in North America, based on production capacity, with USD 4.7 billion in pro forma net sales for the year ended 31 December 2007. The company’s product portfolio is the broadest in North America and includes coated freesheet, coated groundwood, supercalendered, newsprint, and specialty papers. These papers are used for corporate collateral, commercial printing, magazines, catalogs, books, coupons, inserts, newspapers, packaging applications, and direct mail advertising.

NewPage owns paper mills in Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin in the United States, and in Nova Scotia, Canada. These mills currently have a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.5 million tons of paper, including approximately 3.3 million tons of coated paper, approximately 900,000 tons of uncoated paper, and approximately 300,000 tons of specialty paper.