OLD TOWN, Maine - For the second day in a row, an announcement has been made about a significant change for a paper industry facility in Maine.
Expera Specialty Solutions announced that it's closing its Old Town pulp mill by the end of December. The news comes just a day after Lincoln Pulp and Tissue announced it was filing for bankruptcy and seeking a new buyer.
Expera spokesperson Addie Teeters says the 195 employees of what had been Old Town Fuel and Fiber were notified about the closure this morning. Teeters says several factors led to the closure.
"Some of those include the decline of the Canadian exchange rate coupled with just a significant increase in new pulp capacity into the market," Teeters says, "and that leads to a material drop in overall market pulp prices."
Teeters says another factor is that wood costs in Maine continue to remain very high despite an overall decline in demand.
Expera acquired the facility last December. Teeters says workers will be paid through the end of the year.
