A substantial slash in its annual cut has Kruger worried about the viability of its North Shore mills. A decision h…
A substantial slash in its annual cut has Kruger worried about the viability of its North Shore mills. A decision handed down by the Chief Forester will see the company’s forest supply shrink by 42%, compromising what Kruger calls what was thought to be a stable and predictable resource.
“This disproportionate reduction in volumes is all the more surprising as we have only been conducting forest activities on the North Shore for eight years. This is an area where there was previously no forest activity. In addition, we have never harvested in excess of our allocation,” Jean Majeu, vice president, corporate affairs said in response to the decision. “These new disastrous conditions add to the uncertainty related to the many successive litigations affecting the industry that Kruger has had to face since 2004,” he added.
Wood chips produced on the North Shore supply Kruger’s Wayagamack mill, into which the company poured $500 million in order to rescue and restart it. Now, Kruger says the cutting restrictions will jeopardize the facility, along with its three other sawmills in the region.
“It is clear that this massive and unilateral reduction of our supplies as well as the various constraints imposed, will have a significant impact on the activities of our three North Shore sawmills (Forestville, Longue-Rive and Ragueneau), as well as at the Kruger Wayagamack mill in Trois-Rivires. We must therefore evaluate all our options in every respect, in cooperation with our regional partners and the government representatives,” Majeu concluded.
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