After three years of standing idle, Catalyst's Elk Falls newsprint and magazine paper mill could be scrapped soon.
Catalyst Paper is poised to scrap its idle Elk Falls paper mill. This was reported by the Vancouver Sun on March 21. According to the report, documents filed with the British Columbia Surpreme court seek approval to sell the mill to a scrap-metal contractor. Catalyst Paper had permanently closed the mill in September 2010. Before it had been standing idle since February 2009. It used to produce newsprint, printing, and writing paper on three machines with a total capacity of 526,000 tpy.
The Richmond-based pulp and paper maker had sought creditor protection on 31 January 2012 after a consensual reorganisation under the Canada Business Corporations Act (CBCA) fell through. Catalyst operates three mills in British Columbia: Crofton, Powell River, and Port Alberni as well as the mill in Snowflake, Arizona. The company mainly manufactures newsprint but also produces magazine paper and pulp with a total capacity of 1.9 million t.