LA TUQUE, QUEBEC—  Smurfit Westrock announced plans to permanently close one of the paper machines at its mill in La Tuque, Quebec.  Smurfit Westrock, which has North American headquarters in Atlanta, the machine’s annual production capacity of 127,000 tons of solid bleached sulfate (SBS) has faced what the company says are scale and cost challenges, prompting the closure.  Smurfit Westrock  also will close its extrusion facility in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec, which converts grades produced on the La Tuque machine. The closures impact about 30 jobs at La Tuque and 60 jobs at Pointe-aux-Trembles. Announcements about paper mill shutdowns has become a regular  occurrence with Stora Enso, Canford, Island Papers , Arjowiggins, UPM, International Paper and Domtar have announced mill or machine shut downs in the last several years.