Howe Sound Pulp and Paper (HSPP) is temporarily laying off an estimated 400 workers for the month of June in its kraft pulp mill and newsprint production operations.
The kraft pulp mill is shutting down, putting 100 workers temporarily out of a job due to a mechanical failure. The length of the shutdown is estimated at four weeks, removing 30,000 tonnes of NBSK from production.
"We are looking at all options to reduce the length of the shutdown so we can minimize any impact on our customers and our employees," said Mac Palmiere, president and CEO.
Al Strang, manager environment and external relations, said the piece of equipment that thickens pulp before it goes into the pulp machine went down last weekend. He said the broken part has to be sent to Montreal for repairs, which accounts for the long delay in getting the kraft pulp mill operational again.
"It's not a good situation, but this is out of our hands. Equipment breaks down. It's just very unfortunate we have to shut down for so long," Strang said.
The outlook for other operations at the mill took a turn for the worse this week as HSPP announced it would be laying off between 300 and 350 workers in its newsprint production operations.
Strang said due to poor paper markets, newsprint operations will be shut down from June 5 to 15, removing 6,500 tonnes from production.
"All layoffs are temporary, but it's still never an easy decision to make," said Strang. "I think the best word to describe the mood around here is tense."
Strang said the company is looking at the feasibility of different product grades such as directory paper and copy paper and looking at other markets in the hopes of improving newsprint operations and getting things back on track as quickly as possible.
"There is significant capital involved in these other markets, so we're going to have to take a really hard look to see if we can justify spending that capital," said Strang.
If there is a bright spot, Strang said a planned 11-day shutdown in the fall for maintenance on HSPP's recovery boiler will not happen now, as the repairs will be done during the next few weeks while the other operations are shut down.
"This will reduce our production loss overall, so it eases the hurt a bit, but it's still not a good situation," said Strang.
