AUSTRALIA—A paper manufacturer in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley is preparing to stand down up to 300 workers and has flagged the potential for permanent job losses because of a timber shortage. Opal Australian Paper’s Maryvale paper mill, near Morwell, has sent letters to unions representing its workforce outlining the plan. The company has told the unions it will run out of supply for its white paper manufacturing sometime around December 23. In its letter, seen by the ABC, Opal Australian Paper blamed the move on Supreme Court injunctions on its supplier, the Victorian government-owned timber company VicForests. The injunctions have have resulted in the suspension of most timber harvesting. The company said in the short term it was looking at temporarily standing down workers across three work groups and a “significant” reduction in the work of four others.