Point Tupper mill restarts production
No additional downtime expected in short term
Familiar plumes of steam could be seen rising from the Port Hawkesbury Paper mill in Point Tupper, Monday, as production resumed following a one-week market-related shutdown.
Workers at the mill, which is the largest single employer in the Strait of Canso area, started back on the job Sunday.
Archie MacLachlan, first vicepresident of Unifor Local 972, said Monday he doesn’t know of any plans by the company to take any additional downtime.
“When the company notified the union … they had no plans of any further shutdowns or anything of that nature, actually they seemed quite positive about everything,” he said.
Summer is typically a slow time of year for paper sales.
The mill directly employs almost 350 people. Its PM2 machine makes supercalendered paper for the magazine, catalogue and flyer market. Most employees were laid off as the mill was shut down.
A similar shutdown and layoffs also took place last summer.
Mill development manager
Marc Dube could not be reached for comment Monday.
PM2 produces a great deal of paper at peak production and warehouses were filling up, which necessitated the shutdown, MacLachlan said.
Unlike the mill’s former newsprint machine PM1, which no longer operates, PM2 requires relatively little maintenance. MacLachlan said when the newsprint line was operating and sales were slow, the mill would shut down to perform maintenance.
“They’re not going to run unless they have sales for their product and they’re not going to run just for the sake of running,” MacLachlan said.
The company has indicated that sales going into September will be quite good, he added.
Within the last week, another paper manufacturer, Verso, announced the permanent shutdown on Aug. 1 of a coated paper machine, which serves a similar market as the Point Tupper mill, in Jay, Maine.
It will take a further 20,000 tonnes per year out of the market. The closure will result in about 120 layoffs.
A decision by the U.S. government slapped large tariffs onto Port Hawkesbury Paper’s exports, after two American producers argued its products are unfairly subsidized because of assistance the province provided to restart the mill following a year-long closure and sales process.
Port Hawkesbury Paper has said the interim duty of 20.33 per cent announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce is unfair and without merit.
In April, Port Hawkesbury Paper received some good news in the battle. A NAFTA panel sided with the company in directing the U.S. Department of Commerce to reconsider issues on which the department based imposing border duties, including the electricity rate paid by the mill.
Since the tariff was applied it has been in held in trust pending the outcome of the dispute, which Dube has said totalled about $50 million in duties by April.
Production at the mill resumed in October 2012. It is owned by Pacific West Commercial Corp. It also supports 400-500 jobs in trucking and harvesting of wood.