Workers were called to a meeting at the mill in Tokoroa on Wednesday morning.
The pulp and paper mill is owned by Oji Fibre Solutions, which in September announced it was closing its operation at Penrose, Auckland. Up to 75 workers were affected. Oji said that closure was partly due to high power prices.
Oji chief executive Jon Ryder said in a statement the company was proposing to simplify Kinleith Mill’s operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing lossmaking paper production.
“Therefore, we are consulting on a plan to permanently shut the Kinleith PM6 paper machine and move to a paper import model for our packaging operations.
“Manufacturing paper has become unprofitable. Paper production at Kinleith Mill has suffered significant losses for several years and we see no prospect of the situation improving,” he said.
“Due to the complexities of operational changes required at the mill for this proposal, the exact number of potential job losses is unknown at this stage. However, we anticipate approximately 230 roles may be affected.”
The mill will continue producing pulp.
Earlier in September Winstone Pulp International announced it would close its pulp mill at Karioi and its sawmill at Tangiwai with the loss of 230 jobs.
The mill is the main employer in the central North Island region, with most of its workers living in Raetihi, Ohakune and Waiouru.
Locals feared Raetihi would turn into a ghost town with the effect from the mill closure on households.
