Catalyst Paper announced that the No. 1 paper machine at its Crofton mill in British Columbia will be curtailed indefinitely due to weak newsprint and directory paper demand. The machine, which produces 140,000 tons per year of commodity grades, was temporarily idled on December 23, 2009 for the holiday period. In a related move, the company’s paper recycling facility in Coquitlam, which supplies the Crofton paper machines with de-inked pulp, will be indefinitely shutdown in mid-February.
The Crofton mill operates three paper machines and three pulp lines. The mill has an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of newsprint and 210,000 tons of directory paper, along with the capacity to produce 343,000 tpy of NBSK pulp.