Dec 02, 2008. /Lesprom.com/. The AbitibiBowater Inc. newsprint mill in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, will be shut down for five weeks, starting just before Christmas, a move that is being blamed on shrinking demand worldwide, Canadian Press reported. A notice sent to the 300 employees of the Bowater Mersey Paper Company said rising manufacturing costs are also being blamed for the temporary closure, which starts Dec. 21. Plant manager Bruce Nunn said current global economic conditions are affecting the operation. Vicki Conrad, the area's member of the provincial legislature, said the announcement is a clear sign that the recession is having an impact on Nova Scotia's industries. "This came as a shock to the workers at Bowater," the NDP member said in a statement. "They expected a shutdown for a week, not five weeks ... The uncertainty will make it a tough Christmas for the more than 350 families affected by the shutdown." Still, Conrad says there are many reasons to be hopeful that the plant will reopen. "I'm optimistic because the Bowater mill has its own woodlands, produces its own energy, and has a strong, productive workforce," she said. "That's a combination makes it competitive." AbitibiBowater reported a net loss for the 3Q of $302 million, or $5.23 per share, on sales of $1.7 billion. The Montreal-based company is the eighth largest publicly traded pulp and paper manufacturer in the world, operating 61 pulp, paper and wood products facilities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea.