San Francisco, CA — Although Pope & Talbot had announced that is would reduce daily production at its Harmac pulp …
San Francisco, CA — Although Pope & Talbot had announced that is would reduce daily production at its Harmac pulp mill in Nanaimo, BC, starting September 15, reductions began earlier, on September 10 instead, according to a report by Forestweb. In addition, instead of cutting output by 70,000 tonnes/year as planned, production is now down by about 100,000 tonnes per year, a company executive confirmed. This brings the northern bleached softwood kraft mill’s rate of operation to about 280,000 tonnes/year.
The original announcement, on July 31, stated that Pope & Talbot would temporarily curtail one of its three lines at the mill due to the reduced supply of affordable fibre in the region. But the current forestry workers strike in coastal BC has further diminished the supply of fibre. Pope & Talbot intends to bring its production back up to 330,000 tonnes/year when the strike is over, but will keep the small line down unless conditions improve, the executive told Forestweb.
Other companies that have coastal BC mills are also in a precarious position regarding wood supplies, a Canadian market pulp consultant observed recently. He said that one mill is using beetle-killed wood and running at a reduced rate, and another may be facing complete shut-down in early October.
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