Mercer International to Curtail Production at Celgar Pulp Mill Due to Lack of Fiber

Jan. 18, 2023 - Mercer International announced that, due to a lack of appropriate fiber availability, its Celgar pulp mill in British Columbia, Canada, is planning to take approximately three weeks of downtime. This curtailment is expected to start in March 2023.

Juan Carlos Bueno, Mercer's President and CEO remarked, "We are disappointed that the current fiber supply situation — and in particular, the lack of available residual fiber for pulp — has led us to the difficult position forcing us to curtail.

"The continued fiber supply problem is a source of disappointment for our employees, our suppliers, the Castlegar region and the province at large. We are hopeful for a resolution in short order," Bueno said.

The Celgar mill produces approximately 500,000 tonnes of Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) pulp, enough eco-certified green energy to supply its own needs plus up to an additional 20,000 homes and 250,000 litres of turpentine annually, making it one of the main employers and economic generators for the region.

Mercer International is a global forest products company with operations in Germany, the USA and Canada with an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of pulp, 960 million board feet of lumber, 140 thousand cubic meters of cross-laminated timber, 17 million pallets and 150,000 metric tonnes of wood pellets.

SOURCE: Mercer International Inc.