The difficult market environment for coated papers has led Catalyst Paper to the decision to indefinitely idle its PM 12 at the Rumford mill.
Catalyst Paper will indefinitely idle the coated paper machine PM 12 at its Rumford mill in Maine. The machine has already been standing still since 20 May and the company now said it would not restart again.
According to Catalyst Paper, this decision is fully market-related. North American paper markets continued to be challenging with a decline in demand for coated paper, the company explained. "This is a difficult, but necessary decision that supports Catalyst's commitment to align mill operations and production with market demand," said Joe Nemeth, the company's President and CEO.
Catalyst Paper had temporarily shut down PM 12 on 20 May and laid off 51 employees due to the decline in demand. As transition and job loss mitigation stemming from this curtailment had already been completed, no additional layoffs were expected, said the company.
Catalyst Paper is currently investing in the Rumford paper mill. "Year to date, we've invested more than $10m in upgrades to the mill, including major maintenance related to the recovery boiler," said Mr Nemeth. The company is also implementing a revitalization program to increase productivity, it is learnt.
The PM 12 produces coated paper for magazines, catalogues and commercial printing applications. According to Catalyst Paper, the Rumford mill has a capacity of around 470,000 tpy of coated specialty, coated freesheet and coated groundwood paper, and 380,000 tpy of pulp (of which 60,000 t are market pulp). The company acquired the site from New Page in January this year.
