NewPage reports $20M 1Q loss

NewPage reports $20M 1Q loss
Dayton Business Journal - 10:13 AM EDT Monday, May 7, 2007
Paper company NewPage Corp. posted a $20 million loss in the first quarter on lower sales.

Sales were down 6 percent to $476 million from $507 million in first quarter 2006, the company reported Monday.

The loss, however, was narrower than the $60 million loss in the same quarter last year.

Volume and price were down as the company continued to see negative effects of imports of coated paper from China, Indonesia and South Korea, said Mark Suwyn, chief executive officer and chairman.

The Dayton company filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission last year seeking antidumping and countervailing taxes on coated paper imports from the three countries. Countervailing taxes help restrict international trade where imports are subsidized by a foreign country and hurt domestic producers. Dumping happens when a country exports a significant amount of goods at prices much lower than in the domestic market.

The commerce department imposed preliminary countervailing taxes on the countries in March. An answer on the dumping cases is expected this month.

"We are willing to compete with anyone in the world as long as we have a level playing field," Suwyn said.

NewPage has been planning an initial public offering since 2006 but has yet to go public. The company has about 4,300 employees, including 250 at its Dayton headquarters. The company produces coated paper at plants in Michigan, Maryland, Maine and Kentucky.