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Catalyst Paper exec meets with mayor about ongoing Powell River mill closure

An executive at Catalyst Paper Corporation met with the mayor of Powell River, British Columbia this week to discuss the city’s ongoing mill closure.

Paper Excellence, Catalyst Paper’s parent company, curtailed production at the Powell River mill in mid-April, citing a lack of available fibre in B.C. , the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on the supply chain and complications from an external malware attack that downed enterprise systems at several Paper Excellence mills.

At the time, Paper Excellence stated the curtailment would last until at least mid-summer.

According to local news outlet Powell River Peak, mayor Dave Formosa says he had a “good meeting” with Patrick Corriveau, vice-president of paper and packaging with Catalyst Paper.

Formosa said there is not currently a timeline to restart the mill, and that reopening would require new products and a change in the market landscape. He said that running and selling thermomechanical pulp might be a potential option.

The Powell River mill produces newsprint and uncoated mechanical specialty papers on two paper machines and employs 360 people.

Paper Excellence’s Crofton, B.C. operation, which was also temporarily shuttered at the same time as the Powell River mill, is now running again with one paper machine online.

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