Australian Paper says Shoalhaven mill could close

Australian Paper's Shoalhaven mill

Australian Paper’s Shoalhaven mill

Australian Paper says its Shoalhaven mill is in danger of closing, and the government’s extension of its security passport paper contract will not be lifeline enough. Bruce Borchardt, mill manager, says the plant is struggling with lower demand from a shrinking print market and competition from cheap overseas imports. He says the Shoalhaven Mill provides a wide range of papers, including recycled papers, chemically sensitised and watermarked security papers, which are not available from any other manufacturer in Australia, and employs 80 staff.

Jack Evans, Secretary of the Nowra Sub Branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (l) and Fiona Phillips, Labor Candidate for the South Coast, campaign to save the Shoalhaven mill

Jack Evans, Secretary of the Nowra Sub Branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (l) and Fiona Phillips, Labor Candidate for the South Coast, campaign to save the Shoalhaven mill

The mill’s production has fallen from 70,000 tonnes a year on three machines in 2006 to around 12,000 on one machine in 2014, says Borchardt, and shifts have been cut from five to three in the past two years, at the cost of 30 jobs (mostly voluntary redundancies). He says, “Without broad recognition from printers, paper merchants and government of the value that local paper manufacturing adds to our communities, there is a real risk that Shoalhaven Mill will not remain in operation. “Australian Government procurement for printed materials utilising recycled papers from Shoalhaven would be in line with its own ICT Sustainability plan, and would create an example for others to follow in mapping out a positive future for the Shoalhaven Mill.” Australian Paper has previously voiced its concerns about alleged dumping of copy paper into the market by Chinese competitors – still under investigation by the Anti-Dumping Commission, with findings now due in August. The company urges Australian companies to buy Australian-made paper as it claims to support almost 6,000 jobs nationally and make an annual contribution of more than $750m to Australia’s GDP. It operates two paper mills, in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and in Shoalhaven in New South Wales, and an envelope plant in Melbourne.

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