WASHINGTON — Representatives from the company that owns the Great Northern Paper mill in East Millinocket met with members of Maine’s congressional delegation on Wednesday to discuss possible plans for resuming operations at the idled mill.

The East Millinocket mill shut down in January for up to four months because of increased competition, high production costs and low prices for paper. Then earlier this month, the company temporarily laid off more than 200 employees while company officials try to restructure operations to lower production costs.

The delegation members did not release details of the discussions with representatives of Great Northern Paper and its parent company, Cate Street Capital.

“We had a productive meeting with the leadership of Cate Street and Great Northern Paper in which they stated that they have a plan for restarting the mill in East Millinocket with the hope of returning some workers by May 1,” Rep. Mike Michaud and Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King said in a joint statement. “We look forward to reviewing the plan and staying in touch with Cate Street as they implement it. We stand ready to do all that we can at the federal level to provide assistance to the workers and their families who are struggling right now.”

The Great Northern mill makes paper for newspapers, catalogs and paperback books.