Abitibi Permanently Shuts Down No. 7 Machine at Iroquois Falls

Abitibi-Consolidated is permanently shutting down one of its three paper machines at the Iroquois Falls, ON, newsprint and groundwood specialties mill. The company said the shutdown of No. 7 paper machine, the mill's oldest, is due to market conditions.

This will move the mill from a three paper machine operation to two machines, reducing mill and company capacity by 58,000 m.t./year. Prior to the shutdown, the mill had the capacity to produce 565 m.t./day of newsprint and 315 m.t./day of groundwood printing and converting specialties.

No. 7 paper machine is a 234-in-wide Walmsley fourdrinier that operates at 1,800 ft/min. The remaining two machines are a Beloit 208-in-wide fourdrinier fitted with a Black Clawson topwire C-Former (1,800 ft/min) and a Valmet 372-in-wide Sym-Former that runs at 3,800 ft/min.

Abitibi added that the shutdown of the division's No.7 paper machine and the reduction in mill output will in turn lead to changes in most departments. It is anticipated that mill employment levels will be reduced by 240 positions during the coming months.

"The challenge of the two machine operation is to improve on Iroquois Falls' cornerstone newsprint costs, offsetting the lower volume, and building stability for the division and the town of Iroquois Falls," said Alain Grandmont, VP of newsprint operations. "To achieve this, the mill has identified opportunities (productivity, labor and staffing, material use, and pricing) that will be acted on over the coming weeks and months"

Brian Stevenson, the division's GM, said that "we have a strong operation in Iroquois Falls. The division has been heavily modernized, with more than $450 million invested here in the past 20 years. We're a modern mill with a high quality fiber supply, low cost power generation facilities, and good people. We can achieve a cost structure that will build stability for the longer term and reflect the level of investment that has taken place, placing our newsprint costs among the lowest in North America. Recognizing that these changes will impact on people, we will, over the coming weeks, be holding discussions with the unions representing our employees, and with government, to investigate measures that may be taken to reduce that impact, and to finalize transition plans."

Abitibi-Consolidated is the world's largest manufacturer and global marketer of newsprint and a leader in uncoated groundwood papers. The company operates 19 mills throughout North America and the UK, and sells product into more than 50 countries.