Port Hawkesbury Paper in Nova Scotia seeking buyers for its shuttered newsprint PM No. 1, but not in a rush to sell unless it finds use for building, such as for technology to extract sugar from woodchips, says company's development manager

Debra Garcia

LOS ANGELES , November 26, 2013 (Industry Intelligence) – The shuttered PM No. 1 at Port Hawkesbury Paper LP’s supercalendered (SC) paper mill in Point Tupper, Nova Scotia, is for sale, according to a mill official, reported The Cape Breton Post on Nov. 26.

The company is trying to sell all or parts of the paper machine, after determining that it could not be used at the Point Tupper mill, said Marc Dube, the company’s development manager.

PM No. 1 once made newsprint but was not restarted when Port Hawkesbury Paper, which is owned by Pacific West Commercial Corp., took over the mill and restarted PM No. 2 in October 2012, the newspaper reported.

Port Hawkesbury Paper is making a higher grade of SC paper than previously produced, after having invested to make the operation the most efficient in North America, said, Port Hawkesbury Mayor Billy Joe MacLean.

The company has talked to various potential buyers of PM No. 1 or its components. Most of the many paper machines offered for sale across North America are sold for pieces, said Dube, reported The Cape Breton Post.

However, Port Hawkesbury Paper is in no rush to sell the machine, as there is no need for urgency, said Dube. That could change if an alternative use is found for the building, he noted.

The company is looking at various opportunities, such as a project with FPInnovations for technology that extracts sugars from woodchips and uses the sugars in non-food products, the newspaper reported.

Nova Scotia doesn’t have enough fiber to feed a second paper machine at the mill, and buying the fiber on the market--as the former owner, NewPage Corp., did--is expensive, according to mill officials.

The primary source of this article is The Cape Breton Post, Sydney, Nova Scotia, on Nov. 25, 2013.

* 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.