Domtar discounts rumors that its NBSK pulp mill in Kamloops, British Columbia, is for sale; Paper Excellence one of several potential buyers cited in the rumors

Debra Garcia

LOS ANGELES , May 27, 2013 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – Domtar Corp. is discounting rumors that its pulp mill in Kamloops, British Columbia, is for sale, Kamloops This Week reported on May 24. There is talk the mill could be sold as early as this summer, Kamloops This Week reported on May 24.

One of the rumors in Kamloops names Asia Pulp and Paper Co.’s (APP) Paper Excellence Canada Holdings Corp. as a possible buyer. Saying that she has heard this talk, company spokesperson Bonny Skene said the company doesn’t comment on rumor and speculation.

Paper Excellence owns several other pulp mills across Canada. This month it closed its purchase of Tembec Inc.’s NBSK mill in Skookumchuck, British Columbia.

Charles Fraser, president of Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) Local 10B, said he had heard the names of a number of possible buyers. In recent days he asked senior management at the mill if it was to be sold and was told that local management had heard nothing, Kamloops This Week reported.

Domtar permanently shut down its 120,000 tonnes/year sawdust softwood pulp A-line on March 25 and continues to operate a 380,000 tonnes/year northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp B-line.

The company cited “prevailing economic conditions in the global pulp markets and deteriorated competitiveness of this small pulp manufacturing line” for the shutdown, according to a Dec. 13 press release.

The CEP’s Fraser said 56 workers have been laid off since the A-line was shut, while others quit or retired, and that the labor situation remains “tense,” with 26 union members set to be let go in a final wave of layoffs planned for Aug. 31.

Skene said mill operations are being restructured toward making it “competitive,” Kamloops This Week reported.

The primary source of this article is Kamloops This Week, Kamloops, British Columbia, on May 24, 2013.

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