Canfor Pulp curtails production at one of two lines at Northwood mill in Prince George, British Columbia, because of recovery boiler failure, expects to lose 25,000 tonnes

Diane Keaton

VANCOUVER, British Columbia , June 1, 2012 (press release) – Industry Intelligence Inc. Editor's Note: The Northwood mlll has an annual production capacity of 590,000 tonnes, all northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp. Annual production capacity of Canfor Pulp's other two mills, also in Prince George, are 320,000 tonnes/year of NBSK at the Intercontinental Pulp and Paper mill; and 120,000 tonnes of unbleached kraft pulp (UBK), 15,000 tonnes of semi-bleached pulp, and 135,000 tonnes of kraft paper at the Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill.

Canfor Pulp Products Inc. (the “Company”) (TSX:CFX) announces today that production at the Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership’s (the “Partnership”) Northwood Pulp Mill has been curtailed to investigate a failure in one of its two recovery boilers. There were no injuries reported in the incident but the number one recovery boiler has been shutdown to determine the cause of the malfunction. As a result, only one of the two production lines in the mill is currently operating.

The cost of repair and the duration of curtailment cannot be reliably determined until a detailed inspection of the facility is completed. However, based on a preliminary review, it is estimated that the curtailment will be for at least a three week duration with an estimated reduction in production of NBSK pulp of approximately 25,000 tonnes.

To mitigate the impact of the incident, management intends to continue operation of the second production line at the mill and will advance certain mill maintenance activities previously scheduled to be performed during a planned mill shutdown in September. Production at the Partnership’s Intercontinental Pulp Mill and Prince George Pulp and Paper Mill is not affected by the curtailment at Northwood.

Due to mitigation efforts by the Company, including property damage and business interruption insurance coverage, the curtailment is not expected to have a material impact on the financial condition of the Company or the Partnership.

About Canfor Pulp Products Inc.
Canfor Pulp Products Inc. ("CPPI") is the successor to the Canfor Pulp Income Fund (the "Fund") following the completion of the conversion of the Fund from an income trust structure to a corporate structure by court approved plan of arrangement under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "BCBCA") on January 1, 2011 (the "Conversion"). The Conversion involved the exchange, on a one- for-one basis, of all outstanding Fund Units for common shares of CPPI ("CPPI Shares"). Upon completion of the Conversion, on January 1, 2011, the unitholders of the Fund became the sole shareholders of CPPI which became sole owner of all of the outstanding Fund Units.

Immediately following the conversion, the Fund was wound up, CPPI received all of the assets and assumed all of the liabilities of the Fund and CPPI became the direct holder of the 49.8% interest in the Partnership previously held by the Fund. On March 2, 2012, CPPI increased its Partnership interest to 100%.

For more information about CPPI and the Partnership, please visit www.canforpulp.com.

About Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership
The Partnership is a limited partnership formed on April 21, 2006, under the laws of Manitoba to acquire and carry on the Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (“NBSK”) pulp and paper business of Canfor. The business consists of two NBSK pulp mills and one NBSK pulp and paper mill located in Prince George, BC and a marketing group based in Vancouver, BC.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.