Saint Anne Nackawic CLOSED!

[slowzuki]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/09/14/629416-cp.html

This is the major source of employment in the town I went to school at.  There are about 20 students on scholarship via the mill that probably will have their tuition checks bounce very soon.

It will be interesting to see if the town survives.  The first group of people who started with the mill are all retired and living in the town, the value of their houses probably just dropped 30%.

[SwampDonkey]

There have been hints in the air for the last 2 years that the owners were ready to ditch the mill for various reasons. Lets just hope that a buyer can be found in the short term, although the owners didn't say it was for sale. The province needs this mill to utilize its hardwood and poplar pulpwood, so I'm confident a solution will be found by next spring. Its just typical behaviour of corporations to walk away, because  many are foreign owned and don't give a hoot about the local economy. We saw similar tactics with Repap. Its funny how these outfits forget that my tax dollars built their mills to begin with. Sheesh. :

[woodbeard]

I noticed that their customers included big film manufacturers.
I know they are making a lot less film these days with electronic media taking over. I wonder if that was part of the problem?

[SwampDonkey]

HI Woodbeard:

Their official statement was that they couldn't compete with low pulpwood prices in the southern hemisphere, the loss of the railway system from the mill yard and the scarcity of hardwood within the province. The last one I don't agree with, part of the problem is that producers on private lands have been sending their hardwood to Maine for a higher price. Also, the cost of production has taken a big jump with high fuel prices. This led to under delivered contracts with many of the Marketing Boards and wood brokers around the province. Also, the fact that they closed deliveries before the end of these contracts.

I know that some time ago (10 years) they were saying that the Asian market was hurting their sales to Eastman Kodak because of cheaper Kraft pulp coming from those countries. This triggered a cost cutting measure, laying off workers and upgrading the mill with Government loans. They still owe $15 million in loans according to the finance minister. The minister has indicated if they default on those loans they will seize thier private forest land worth $15-21 million. See, they got those lands when the Nashwaak Pulp and Paper Co. fled the scene in the 60's, and the government seized the land. It was also foreign owned.

[slowzuki]

Speaking with some people I hear smaller outfits have completed about 10 million+ of refit work in the mill and now will not likely see a cent for a year or more.

Unfortunately the refit is only partly done...

Hmm, Crown would repo the land eh? They just took about 50 acres on the back of our property before we bought it.  The old fellow had been paying tax on it for 50 years and they showed up with a lawyer saying it was theirs, his brother was sick so he didn't bother arguing.  Signed it over.

[SwampDonkey]

Yes, I see this in the weekend papers. And the Government says they won't cough up to complete the refit. Our Marketing Board lost $125,000 in unpaid wood sales according to one of the directors.