Pulp Mill Faces Axe
The Age
Wednesday June 3, 1998
The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, has promised to investigate the expected closure of one of Australia's biggest pulp and paper mills at Burnie in northern Tasmania.
Amcor is reportedly planning to replace the 60-year-old mill's output with cheaper imported paper from Indonesia, putting up to 200 workers out of a job.
Amcor said it would hold a meeting with its workforce at the pulp mill today on its plans but would not confirm that the mill would be closed.
The Opposition industry spokesman, Mr Simon Crean, described the closure as a savage blow to the economy of north-west Tasmania, and demanded Mr Howard intervene immediately to keep the plant open and protect its workforce.
Mr Howard said he had seen reports of the plant's closure, and promised to investigate. He also revealed that the local Liberal MP, Mr Chris Miles, went to Melbourne yesterday to urge Amcor executives to delay the closure.
Amcor is believed to have decided that the pulp mill, which supplies the adjoining Burnie paper-making facility, is too small and too old to warrant further investment.
Analysts yesterday suggested Amcor would import some pulp from Indonesia and strike a woodchip supply deal with the Tasmanian Government when its five-year supply contract with North expired.
Amcor has invested about $50 million at its Burnie and Wesleyvale paper-making plants since it bought Australian Pulp and Paper Manufacturers from North (formerly North Broken Hill) about five years ago. But the pulp mill received none of the funds.
Amcor is mid-way through a big program to reconfigure its paper operations, and move production of some complicated paper types to machines at Burnie while transferring copypaper production from Burnie to its new M5 machine at Maryvale in eastern Victoria.
-- AAP
© 1998 The Age
