Cascades announces the sale of its Flexible Packaging plant activities to Five Star Holding for CAN$31 million

Paper Excellence announced the indefinite curtailment of its paper operations at the Catalyst Crofton facility starting in early December 2022. Paper markets in China served by the mill have significantly weakened while there have been substantial cost escalations for chemicals, energy and wood fibre used at Crofton. The intersection of these pressures has materially impacted the financial viability of the paper operation. We expect to operate Crofton’s paper machines for 60 days following this announcement. We will be working closely with both unions as this decision affects about 80 Unifor employees and 70 PPWC employees. We recognize the hardship this will have on both our employees and the Cowichan Valley. We hope to minimize these impacts through union discussions that will consider secondments, utilization of earned time off and employment insurance. The mill’s pulp operations will continue production during the paper curtailment. Paper Excellence is working with both Provincial and Federal Governments while it conducts studies at the Crofton facility to consider accelerating its conversion into natural food and packaging grades.

Twin Rivers Paper Company, a leading producer of specialty paper products, proudly marks a century of papermaking, operational excellence, product innovation, and a strong commitment to the communities where it operates. The company’s papermaking legacy began in 1925 when inaugural tons of paper rolled off two machines at the Madawaska mill in northern Maine. Today, Twin Rivers’ footprint encompasses seven paper machines across four operating sites – its flagship mill in Madawaska, three specialty mills in upstate New York, and an integrated pulp mill in Edmundston, New Brunswick. Known for its lightweight expertise and a highly engineered portfolio of packaging, technical, publishing and label papers, Twin Rivers produces 400,000 tons of specialty papers annually. The company’s Madawaska mill operates four paper machines producing more than 340,000 tons of specialty papers essential to consumers and diverse market sectors, including oil- and grease-resistant food packaging, coated-one-side (C1S) packaging, lightweight opaque (LWO) publishing grades, pharmaceutical papers, release liners, and thermal transfer label base papers. Twin Rivers acquired Burrows Paper Corp. in 2016, adding three mills in upstate New York: Mill Street, Mohawk Valley, and Lyons Falls. Burrows Paper’s legacy dates back to 1919, when it began as a one-mill, two-machine papermaking company in Little Falls, NY. Today, the New York mills specialize in waxing, laminating, and extruding base papers, battery pasting papers, medical papers, filtration papers, and hydroentangling grades.

Metsä Group has donated EUR 250,000 each to the University of Helsinki and the University of Oulu. These donations will be allocated to science, agriculture and forestry at the University of Helsinki and to technology at the University of Oulu. Metsä Group wants to invest in developing teaching and research in these fields. “Metsä Group produces recyclable products from northern wood for the daily needs of people around the world. Sustainability, competitive production and the top expertise of our employees lie at the core of our operations. We want to develop forestry and the forest industry, and that requires top quality higher education and research,” says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.