Bowater Mersey Paper mill in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, to shut down for one week starting Nov. 14, mainly due to market conditions; mill's costs being analyzed, with further downtime being considered from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2
Bdebbie Garcia
LOS ANGELES
,
November 2, 2011
(Forestweb)
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Bowater Mersey Paper Co. Ltd.’s pulp and paper mill in Brooklyn, Nova Scotia, will take one week’s downtime starting Nov. 14 and might be shut for two weeks in December, said an AbitibiBowater Inc. spokesperson, reported CBC News on Nov. 1.
The November shutdown is due to several factors, but mainly because of market conditions, said Pierre Choquette on Tuesday from AbitibiBowater’s headquarters in Montreal, Quebec.
AbitibiBowater, which owns the mill, is reviewing various issues as it considers Bowater Mersey’s future. Among these issues are “cost structures,” such as for power and labor, said Choquette.
Further downtime at the mill is being considered from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2, 2012. The approximately 300 employees of Bowater Mersey were told of the curtailments this week, Choquette said, CBC News reported.
Last week, Bowater Mersey executives said at a hearing before the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board that the mill needs a special, five-year discounted rate for electricity to keep it solvent.
In Quebec, AbitibiBowater is negotiating with the province to reopen two closed mills there. Choquette would not say if the future of Bowater Mersey is connected to reopening a mill in Quebec, reported CBC News.
The Bowater Mersey mill has the capacity to produce 258,000 tonnes per year of newsprint and commercial printing papers, according to AbitibiBowater's website.
The primary source of this article is CBC News, Toronto, Ontario, on Nov. 1, 2011.
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