Paper Excellence Further Extends Paper Production Curtailment at Crofton Mill

The Crofton Mill has two paper machines and two pulp lines. The mill has the capacity to produce 320,000 tonnes per year of printing / packaging papers and 380,000 tpy of NBSK pulp.

Nov. 29, 2023 - Paper Excellence Canada on Nov. 23 announced that it is once again extending the curtailment of paper operations at its pulp and paper mill, located on Vancouver Island in Crofton, British Columbia, Canada, to the end of February 2024.

On October 20, Paper Excellence announced the curtailment of paper operations at Crofton would continue to the end of November with a December restart hinging on a reassessment of market conditions.

However, "challenging market conditions have not recovered as anticipated," the company said.

The Crofton mill's primary market for its paper products (specialty papers, printing and writing paper) is China, and continued weak pricing in the global paper markets have hindered the restart of the mill's papermaking operations.

"Unfortunately, the continued curtailment means that approximately 70 paper operations employees will not return to work in December," Paper Excellence said.

The Crofton mill's pulp operations, which supports approximately 400 union and salaried staff employees, will continue production during the extended paper curtailment.

Paper Excellence Canada noted that it will continue to supply customers with products typically made at Crofton from other mills within the Paper Excellence Group where possible.

Paper Excellence Canada, headquartered in British Columbia, is a diversified manufacturer of pulp and specialty, printing, writing, and packaging papers in Canada with a production capacity of over 2.5 million tonnes annually.

SOURCE: Paper Excellence