Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. said it would permanently shut two mills as of December 31, 2009. The Ontonagon, MI, mill produces 280,000 tons of medium annually and the Missoula, MT, mill produces 620,000 tons of linerboard annually. There will be a 4Q09 restructuring charge of $284 million, $246 million of which is non-cash.

Ontonagon ceased operations in September when it began taking market-related downtime. The Missoula mill was to continue operating until December 31. Ontonagon mill has 182 employees and the Missoula mill has 417 employees.

The company said the two mills are high-cost facilities that do not provide adequate returns over the long term for the Company. www.smurfit- stone.com.