The owner of Australia’s last newsprint-producing paper mill has said it is committed to the future of newspapers, despite an ongoing process around the potential sale of the Boyer Mill site in southern Tasmania.

One of the world’s biggest paper suppliers, Norwegian group Norske Skog, has operated the Boyer Mill since 2000, which with more than 250 staff remains one of the state’s largest employers. It has been in operation since 1941.

The company has been running a sale process for the past 12 months. It assessed the site as an attractive asset for potential buyers looking to take advantage of the government’s regulatory demand for renewable energy in the state. But a buyer is yet to emerge.

A person close to the company who was not authorised to speak publicly said Norske Skog had received a number of expressions of interest over a sale, with the site featuring established infrastructure, access to raw materials, water, energy, effluent treatment and rail transport. The sale, closure or repurposing of the mill would be another blow for Australia’s regional print newspaper industry, which already faces pressure in a depressed advertising market.

Despite the process, Norske Skog said it remained committed to producing paper for newsprint after renegotiating terms in 2022 with Australia’s major publishers, with costs increased by between 30 per cent and 40 per cent.

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“The company remains a committed owner of the Boyer Mill, which is the sole producer of publication paper in Australia,” a Norske Skog spokesperson said. “Norske Skog wants to further develop the unique Boyer industrial site and that the location is attractive for green industrial players to develop new biomaterials and renewable energy either on their own or in partnership with Norske Skog Boyer.”

The person close to the company said a sale could also result in Norske Skog leasing back the paper-making assets, with the mill taking up only about 10 per cent of the site.

The site’s closure would probably mean the end of print products for many of Australia’s regional or independent publishers, due to the high cost of importing paper.