Mondi
has permanently halted production on the 110,000 tonne/yr newsprint machine PM
4 at its Merebank mill near Durban in South Africa, which is operated by its
subsidiary Mondi Shanduka Newsprint. The PM was halted in late June.
Most
of the consultation process with employee representatives has been concluded, a
Mondi spokesperson said, adding that since there were still a few details to
finalize, she could not yet say how many employees will be let go as a result
of the closure.Mondi announced plans to close the machine in early May, due to the "ongoing decline in domestic newsprint demand and reorganization within the publishing sector." The output of PM 4 has been going solely to the South African market.
