Nov. 27, 2007 - Catalyst Paper said that the No. 1 paper machine at its Elk Falls mill at Campbell River will remain down for the first quarter of 2008.

Catalyst idled the machine in September.

The continued machine downtime will reduce the company's newsprint production by 38,000 tonnes to the end of March.

"Based on current fiber availability, it will take a few months yet to rebuild and stabilize our fibre inventories," said Richard Garneau, Catalyst's president and chief executive officer.

"Forty-two percent of our supply was affected by the coastal strike, and we have worked hard to optimize our fiber supply in order to limit the production capacity impact to 14 percent to date," he added

In addition to the curtailment of the No. 1 paper machine, much of the Elk Falls mill will take downtime through the Christmas period impacting some 600 employees.

The kraft and containerboard operations will take 18 days of curtailment from Dec. 16, 2007 to Jan. 2, 2008.

Fiber availability will dictate whether additional downtime is required in the first quarter, Catalyst said.

PM2 and PM5 will be curtailed beginning Dec. 23, 2007. No. 2 paper machine is expected to restart on Jan. 2 and No. 5 paper machine is expected to restart on Jan. 6, 2008.

In total, Catalyst expects to lose 100,000 tonnes of production in the fourth quarter, mostly in newsprint, and 30 percent in pulp and containerboard.

SOURCE: Catalyst Paper