February 28, 2019 – Cascades Inc. has announced it will cease operations of two tissue paper machines located in Ontario, affecting 68 positions at the plants.
The machines are located in Whitby and the Progress Avenue location in Scarborough. The leases for both plants expire August 27, 2019 and will not be renewed.
In total, the sites produce 44,000 tonnes of tissue paper annually. The company says it will try to relocate as many employees as possible to its other business units located in the region, and that it will help employees who cannot or don’t wish to be reassigned find new jobs.
“[The machines’] unprofitability and the current market conditions have convinced us that it is better to source externally to supply our needs,” says Jean Jobin, president and chief operating officer of Cascades Tissue Group, in a statement.
The end date of the production remains to be determined.
The announcement was made as Cascades announced a loss in its fourth-quarter 2018 results of $0.69 cents per share compared with net earnings of $0.60 per share in Q4 2017.
The company also says that its Tissue Group was further impacted by several unforeseen events in the U.S., including the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, a fire at the Wagram, NC facility, a third-party gas pipeline failure on the West Coast and unresolved operational problems at the tissue mill in St. Helens, Oregon.
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