Paper Excellence Extends Paper Production Curtailment at Powell River and Crofton Mills in British Columbia
Located on southern Vancouver Island near Duncan, Crofton is an integrated pulp and paper mill with an annual capacity to produce 334,000 tonnes of paper.
April 20, 2020 - Paper Excellence announced on April 15 that it will extend the curtailment of paper operations at Powell River and Crofton. Both mills located in British Columbia, Canada, and are operated by Paper Excellence's subsidiary, Catalyst. In a written statement, Paper Excellence said, "Over the past six months, an exceptional intersection of events has negatively impacted our operations including: a material shortage of economic forest fibre on BC's coast; a significant external malware attack which rendered our paper business enterprise systems inoperable for a period of time, and from which we continue to recover as we work to restore all affected operations; and COVID-19 which has materially impacted the supply chain for many of the paper products that we manufacture." The production curtailment began after Paper Excellence's IT systems had been affected by malware on February 20. On March 5, Paper Excellence reported that the event impacted its email capabilities and enterprise business systems that drive fulfillment of paper manufacturing at Crofton, Port Alberni and Powell River. Paper operations were curtailed as orders could not be planned and manufactured because of the systems interruption, the company said. "We currently expect the curtailment to carry into mid-summer. Paper Excellence will service our core paper customer base from our Port Alberni operation during this period, along with intermittent manufacturing runs at our Crofton facility as opportunities permit. All production activity will take place under enhanced health and safety protocols aimed at ensuring the health of our employees and communities, and addressing the COVID-19 challenge. The entire situation is expected to continue to be highly fluid and the timeline may be modified in the coming months," Paper Excellence explained. About the Powell River MillPowell River Mill, located on the mainland coast of British Columbia, produces newsprint and uncoated mechanical specialty papers. Powell River's specialty products are used in catalogues, magazines, newsletters, inserts, flyers and high-volume weekend newspaper magazines. The mill has the annual capacity to produce 334,000 tonnes of specialty paper. About the Crofton MillLocated on southern Vancouver Island near Duncan, Crofton is an integrated pulp and paper mill with two operating paper machines and two pulp machines. Major products include newsprint, directory paper and kraft pulp, which is used to manufacture printing, writing and specialty papers. The mill has the annual capacity to produce 334,000 tonnes of paper and 341,000 tonnes of NBSK pulp. Paper Excellence has grown through logical acquisitions from a single mill base to a multinational group producing 2.7 million tonnes of paper and pulp and employing over 2,300 people over the past decade. To learn more, visit: www.paperexcellence.com. SOURCE: Paper Excellence |