Paper Industry In State of Uncertainty Due to Declining Demand of Coated Paper

The stakes are high for the nation's biggest paper-making state: The ownership uncertainties have cropped up at a precarious moment when demand for coated printing-grade paper is on the latest leg of a sharp multiyear, digitally driven decline, sparking speculation of a renewed round of mill shutdowns.

Verso Paper this year announced it wants to acquire NewPage Holdings in a deal that would combine the two biggest coated paper producers in North America—raising questions about what the merged company would do with its new excess capacity.