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Fortress Paper appoints team for Thurso’s conversion to dissolving pulp

Fortress Paper has chosen veterans of the specialty cellulose field to lead the conversion of Fortress Special…

Fortress Paper has chosen veterans of the specialty cellulose field to lead the conversion of Fortress Specialty Cellulose’s Thurso mill to dissolving pulp. Peter Vinall will be president and CEO of Fortress Specialty Cellulose, Vincent Byrne joins the company as vice-president, technical development, and Donald Deer will be projects leader. In addition, Marco Veilleux, the former operations director of the Thurso mill under Fraser Papers’ ownership, has been appointed chief operating officer of Fortress Specialty Cellulose.
In addition, Fortress Specialty has added Pierre Monahan to its Board of Directors.
In announcing the appointments, Chad Wasilenkoff, CEO of Fortress Paper commented: “We are very pleased to have someone of Peter Vinall’s extensive experience and track record joining our team. His appointment brings a wealth of experience in running some of the largest dissolving pulp mills in the world and he has a talent for building strong teams and leading business transformations. With Vince Byrne, Donald Deer, Marco Veilleux and Pierre Monahan, we will have an experienced team in place to implement our business plan at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose mill.”
Peter Vinall commented: “The mill has good access to fibre supply and a reputation for high quality NBHK production which will continue with the restart which is underway. Our aim is to leverage these strengths and transform the asset base with extensive technological upgrades and a state of the art cogeneration facility with the goal of becoming a low cost producer and industry leader in the specialty cellulose sector.”.
Vinall, Bryne and Deer all have been involved in the conversion of AV Group mills to dissolving pulp.
Deer also has recent experience designing cogeneration and energy optimization projects. Veilleux has led the Thurso operation since 2007, having developed his career in a series of operational and technical leadership roles in the pulp and paper sector in Eastern Canada. He was instrumental in initiating the cogeneration project and ensuring the Thurso assets are well positioned for the transformation.
Monahan was formerly the CEO of Alliance Forest Products Inc. and executive vice-president of Bowater Canada Inc. during which time he oversaw its integration with Alliance Forest Products Inc., an acquisition valued at approximately $1 billion.