PORT HUDSON - Amid news that it plans to lay off more than 600 workers from its paper mill in south Louisiana, Georgia-Pacific says it will no longer qualify for substantial tax breaks.

On Friday, the company said it would no longer move forward its Industrial Tax Exemption Program contract because it "clearly won’t meet the jobs-related requirements of it."

The company announced Thursday roughly 650 jobs at the Port Hudson facility will ultimately be impacted by the communication papers and pulp asset closures. About 40 business and sales jobs also will be affected by the decision.

Employees will continue to operate the Port Hudson communication papers and pulp mill assets, with final operations of those assets expected by mid-March.

You can read the full statement below.

Yesterday, Georgia-Pacific communicated the difficult news about our exit of the communication papers business and its impact on the Port Hudson employees and the community. As I communicated with many of you, our first commitment was to communicate this news to our employees and to the community.

This morning, we communicated with the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, and we have submitted a request to the Commerce & Industry Board to not move forward with our ITEP contract because we clearly won’t meet the jobs-related requirements of it.