Timber mills fear they will be unable to fill orders after the New South Wales government confirmed logging would end in forests gazetted as part of the Great Koala National Park .

The state government announced an immediate temporary moratorium on logging in 176,000 hectares of state forest stretching from Kempsey to Grafton.

The government said the decision would impact six out of 25 mills operating in the region and about 300 jobs.

Details of which mills will close and where jobs will be lost are yet to be announced as the government negotiates assistance deals with owners and workers.

Pentarch Forestry, which stood down 38 workers at its Koolkhan sawmill in March, citing a shortfall in logs from the state's Forestry Corporation, was likely to be among those affected.

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