MILLINOCKET – A two-week production curtailment involving half of the paper machines at Great Northern Paper Inc.’s Millinocket mill will be extended for another week.

The extended curtailment continues to affect about 75 employees at the Millinocket Paper mill. Employees, whose vacation period runs from May to May, will still be able to use existing vacation time or can use upcoming vacation time, according to a company official. The mill employs 712 people.

In an announcement to employees this week, GNP President Eldon Doody said the temporary shutdown of the Nos. 7 and 8 paper machines and the off-machine coater complex would continue.

“If orders permit, the machines will start up on April 8,” said Doody. “Orders for several grades of paper continue to be difficult to get as the market remains soft for the volume and price. We plan to start up as soon as orders permit.”

Responding to whether the shutdown could be extended again, Brian Stetson, GNP’s spokesman and director of environmental affairs, said it could. “It’s all dependent on market conditions,” he said.

Stetson said markets continue to be soft, especially for coated and uncoated groundwood specialty grades of papers. Coated and uncoated groundwood specialty grades of paper are those typically used in advertising fliers and catalogs. “We do see signs the markets should be improving as the year progresses,” said Stetson.

On March 18, Great Northern officials temporarily shut down production at the Millinocket paper mill for two weeks. Company officials earlier said the length of the curtailment would all hinge on whether it received sufficient orders.

Production will continue on paper machine Nos. 10 and 11 and in the pulp mill.

The production curtailment is the second in the last five months for Great Northern. The Millinocket-based paper company isn’t the only one feeling the pinch of a soft market place.

International Paper Co.’s Bucksport paper mill has experienced a series of shutdowns during the last year resulting from lack of orders. The Bucksport mill employs 1,060 people and produces lightweight coated papers used in magazines and catalogs.