RUMFORD — The No. 10 papermaking machine at NewPage Corp. went down Monday for an expected two-week hiatus.

The machine, one of three at the mill, will undergo mechanical repairs, Local 900 Union President Matt Bean said Monday afternoon. The No. 12 machine is continuing production as usual.

Bean said the mill’s use of rolling downtimes on one or more of the papermaking machines fits with the repair work.

A number of employees will be laid off during the downtime, he said, adding that the machine is expected to be up and running on Aug. 2 or 3.

Mill spokesman Tony Lyons could not be reached for comment or to provide the number of people who will be laid off.

At the same time, the No. 15 paper machine has been on reduced production. It is operating five days a week, 24-hours a day, rather than the usual seven days a week.

Lyons said earlier in the month that the No. 15 machine was expected to be on curtailed production for the month of July.

The Miamisburg, Ohio-based company reduced the amount of its production by 300,000 tons during the first half of 2009. No announcements have yet been made on whether such reductions will continue in the third quarter.

According to the company’s Web site, the continuing economic doldrums have reduced the need for paper, particularly as print advertising has significantly decreased.

Figures released by the company show a reduction of almost half in the amount of coated paper sold from the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009.

At the beginning of 2009, about 100 hourly and salaried employees were laid off from the local mill, leaving a work force of about 800 people.

Second quarter figures for the company, as well as analysis and operating performance, will be announced on Aug. 12.

NewPage owns and operates mills in Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nova Scotia as well as in Rumford.

eadams@sunjournal.com

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