MONTREAL - The Quebec government responded angrily Friday to AbitibiBowater Inc.'s decision to close several mills affecting more than 2,600 workers across the country and to embark on a second round of cuts to further trim expenses.

Natural Resources Minister Claude Bechard demanded that the company provide more details of the restructuring plan announced Thursday.

"For the second phase, we have to be assured that before allocating wood, the projects must be solid,'' he said during a news conference in Quebec City.

"It can't be true that for the second phase, the government, unions and communities will have to do everything. AbitibiBowater will also have to make some efforts.''

The Montreal-based company said Thursday it will permanently close or indefinitely idle more than half a dozen locations in several provinces and Texas and that it wants to reopen labour agreements.

It also said it would consider a second phase of closures unless the government, unions and communities help to reduce costs.

Bechard said he was disappointed that the government received only an hour's notice of AbitibiBowater's impending decision, which was announced to the public just as stock markets closed Thursday.

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois called for a one-per-cent increase in the provincial sales tax following a similar reduction in the GST in January to help workers and companies modernize.

She said the proposal would generate $1.1 billion.

Opposition Leader Mario Dumont rejected the proposal, saying taxpayers should benefit from the federal tax cut.

He called on the province to reduce fibre costs to make the province more competitive and less susceptible to such devastating cuts.

The political reaction came as AbitibiBowater's shares surged as much as 13.8 per cent Friday morning in the first trading since the company's bombshell announcement.

The company's shares jumped as high as $21.34 in early action, trading later in the morning at $20.90, up $2.15 or 11.47 per cent.

AbitibiBowater said Thursday evening that several paper mills and sawmills will close in the coming weeks in Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, British Columbia and Texas. More than 1,600 workers will join 1,000 already idled.

The announcement angered union, community and forestry workers.

Renaud Gagne of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union said the union will do everything to protect the most jobs possible.

However, he said overproduction and low product prices will make it very difficult to save the mills identified for closure.

Meanwhile, analysts said Abitibi's bold decision exceeded their expectations and is a credible effort to improve the industry's fortunes.

"We believe that management's commitment to a turnaround is credible and the ship looks set to turn in the right direction,'' wrote Pierre Lacroix of Desjardins Securities in a research note.