RUMFORD — The NewPage Corp. financial report for the second quarter shows an increase in sales and a slight decrease in prices.
The quarterly financial review was released by the Miamisburg, Ohio-based paper company on Thursday.
The net loss to the corporate bottom line came in at $174 million, compared to a loss of $6 million during the second quarter of 2009 and a loss of $175 million in the first quarter of 2010.
Local mill spokeswoman Janet Hall said the loss was the result of the ending of the alternative fuel mixture credit from the federal government, lower average sales prices and higher interest costs.
She added that she expects prices to increase during the final two quarters of 2010. She was upbeat about the future.
“We’ve had no market downtime, higher sales and our inventories remain low,” she said Thursday.
Local 900 union President Matt Bean said the local mill “took our cuts during the last couple of years, and now we’re gaining ground.”
He said seven or eight new people have been hired; another eight to 10 are expected to be hired in production in the near future.
According to the figures released by the corporate central office, system-wide paper sales increased from 792,000 tons during the first quarter to 868,000 tons for the quarter ending June 30. However, the price dropped from $858 per ton during the first quarter to $852 per ton during the second quarter.
Hall said the corporation was waiting for a determination by the U.S. Department of Commerce on whether China is dumping cheap paper in the United States, which has an adverse effect on U.S. paper company prices.
“There are a lot of initiatives going on to position an increase in market share,” Hall said.
According to a news release issued by the corporate office at the end of July, the Economic Policy Institute identified about $33 billion in subsidies provided to China’s paper companies, “that have stimulated enormous capacity increases and jeopardized production and jobs in the U.S.”
Local paper machines, Nos. 10, 12, 15 and the No. 9 pulp dryer, however, are running full time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Rumford mill is one of several owned by NewPage. Others are in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nova Scotia, Canada.
eadams@sunjournal.com
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