Thursday, December 31, 2015 11:00 am

LONGVIEW, Washington (From The Daily News) -- KapStone Paper & Packaging will temporarily lay off 25 employees at its Longview box plant for most of the winter due to falling seasonal demand for its paper products, the company confirmed Wednesday.

"The layoff is expected to extend through the months of January and February, months which are historically the slowest months of the year," the company said in a statement, confirming reports that had circulated a couple days.

The Longview mill is coming out of a seven-day shutdown that started Dec. 21. It was the first holiday shutdown at the plant since at least 2009, according to union sources.

About 1,100 employees work at the Longview mill, including nearly 800 unionized workers represented by Association of Western Pulp & Paper Workers Local 153.

Union mill workers continue to work without a ratified contract after ending a 12-day strike in September. The company imposed its last offer in August.